Thaindian News

Ahmedabad, June 8 (IANS) Police are investigating if arrested conman Ashok Jadeja, who is accused of duping thousands of people across India of millions of rupees by posing as a godman, made investments in the stock market and real estate last year.
Jadeja and his wife Neetu were arrested by police May 31 while trying to flee with Rs.1.98 crore (Rs.19.8 million).

A senior crime branch official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were various stories about possible investments made by Jadeja in the stock markets and the real estate, but preliminary investigations do not indicate he invested large sums of money in the two sectors.

“However, these aspects (stock markets and real estate) are very much on the list of investigations to be carried out by the Gujarat police as complaints continue to flow in from cheated investors across the country,” the official added.

According to the official, unless the conman or his relatives provide any clue about his suspected investments especially in stock markets and real estate business, the police of most states would have to work harder on their own to discover these.

“We may take the help of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to investigate if even a single clue is found about Jadeja’s investments, made directly by him or through his relatives, agents or friends in the stock markets,” the official said.

“Right now, most of the victims are only making claims of having lost lakhs of rupees but the investigations would warrant questioning those who have details of what Jadeja did with the cash after fooling so many of his devotees across then country while posing as a godman,” the official said.

The official added there was also “a flood of so-called victims who are claiming to have lost money”, and investigations would be conducted to verify their claims.