IMA scam: Prompted by viral text, investors stage protest outside Bengaluru office

The Bengaluru City Police was hanging by a thread after a message went viral asking the investors of the fraudulent I Monetary Advisory (IMA) to gather in front of the firm's now inoperative office in Bengaluru's Shivajinagar to stage a protest on Sunday, November 17.

A message was widely circulated on Whatsapp among the investors asking them to carry out a protest at 5 pm demanding justice for those scammed by the directors of IMA into investing in the firm.

The Commercial Street police had a tough time controlling the angry protestors, most of whom were were women. The matter escalated soon after someone hurled a stone at the police, which landed on a protesting woman, injuring her head. The injured woman was identified as Mumtaz. She was taken to the nearby Bowring Hospital.

Police caned protestors

The police lathi-charged the protestors after the stone-pelting incident and also detained a few, who were later released. Police said no untoward incident took place due to the quick response from the police force. The police also responded through social media clarifying that permission was not given to anyone to hold a protest and requested the public to refrain from it.

The police have registered a case against the person, who had circulated the message to mislead the investors and are looking into the call records and messages to identify the culprit.

IMA scam had duped over 40,000 investors from the Muslim community to the tune of crores in the name of halal investment. IMA kingpin Mohammed Mansoor Khan had named many top government officials and politicians for taking bribe from him, including former Shivajinagar legislator and disqualified Congress MLA R Roshan Baig.