Orange case changes hands

BRIEF FOR CRIME BRANCH: help victims get their money back under the Investor Protection Act

The multi-crore Orange Properties case has been handed over to the Central Crime Branch due to its interstate ramifications.

MiD DAY had reported how the company had cheated over 400 people by promising them sites in a European township.

City police commissioner S M Bidari said CCB's brief was to help victims get their money back under the Small Investors' Interest Protection Act 2004.u00a0 Bidari said he had also ordered the CCB to investigate cheating cases related to Country Club, Tulasiyan and Frontier group.

"We have already collected details of around 14 complaints filed at Ramamurthy Nagar police station against Orange Properties," said deputy commissioner of police (CCB) S N Sidrammappa.

Money back

Ganesh (name changed on request) said he and his four friends had invested nearly Rs 20 lakh in theu00a0u00a0 European township project. "Of this, we got back nearly Rs 10 lakh. We are lucky to have got back some money since the agreement was not done. Although an Orange Properties spokesperson said they had been duped by Granity Properties, we pursued the matter and got some relief. They have promised to make the full payment by Thursday."

Another investor from UP, a top army officer, said he had invested Rs 2 lakh and had got back nearly Rs 90,000 back .We got it after top police officers intervened," he said.

The missing link

Granity Properties' owner Ashfaq Ahmed, an accused in the case, has been absconding ever since news of the scam broke out.

An investor said they managed to contact the managing director of Orange Properties who promised to return the money. But Ashfaq had not even been seen by many customers. If he is caught, we will get the entire picture, he said.