Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, Jun 10, 2015 :

Hundreds of duped chit fund investors of Odisha on Wednesday took out a rally here demanding early compensation from the state government.

Shouting anti-government slogans, the duped investors under the banner of ‘Arthika Sansthamanankadwara Kshyatigrastanka Milita Mancha’ (ASKMM), the agitated investors threatened to resort to disobedience movement from July 15 next.

Launching a frontal attack on the Naveen Patnaik government, Communist Party of Indian national secretary D Raja said, “People have been looted. It is a fact. The government must show sympathy towards people who have lost their lifetime’s savings. The government should also ask the CBI to pursue the case in all seriousness and with a sense of urgency. It is matter of utter regret that the state government is not keen on helping its own people,” said Raja.

Addressing the rally, ASKMM chief advisor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik came down heavily on the state government for its gross apathy towards the hapless investors.

“We are holding this rally to let the government know that we don’t believe in its claim of returning the investors their money anymore. The corpus fund was a political tool to silence the investors and it worked well for the ruling party. They forgot all about it after winning the election. We demand action against those who looted crores from the innocent people of Odisha,” Patnaik said.

Victims narrated their agonies before the huge crowd. A widowed lady spoke of her agony after losing her life’s savings. “I have lost two lakh rupees. That was all I had. I have a daughter to marry off and a son who is in college. Now, I don’t care about interest, but can’t forget my investment either. The government, which was aware of the activities of the chit fund companies, gave them a free hand to run their illegal business in the state and these companies subsequently looted us. It’s the time for the government to pay back the money, at least our investment,” said Shanti Pradhan, who is the sole earning member of her family.

Ruling party spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb, however, was quick to dismiss any charges of government negligence and suggested the issue should not be politicised. Stating that the investors are going to suffer due to politicisation, he said the state government is trying its best to compensate the investors at the earliest.

“The government has not neglected them. The CBI investigation is being dome on the orders of the the Supreme Court. The state government has no authority to influence the CBI. The government has taken steps to refund the duped investors of their investment. The issue should not be politicized. The people, the small investors are going to suffer because of politics. We are fast forwarding the process to refund the money and would soon come out with the details,” he pointed out.