The employees of DB Stock Broking, the investment firm of the multi-crore scam accused Dipankar Barman on Friday revealed that they have also been on the receiving end.
During their questioning today, some of the company's employees told the investigating officers that they had also invested through the firm and are yet to get their money back.
As per reports, DB Stock Broking's Guwahati office had 12-14 employees. Six of them appeared before ACP Amit Mahato at the Panbazar police station today after being summoned for interrogation. They have been identified as Nitumoni Choudhury (receptionist), Jintumoni Kalita (accounts), Puja Patel (office assistant), Sujit Das (accounts), Biswajit Barman (manager of the Nalbari branch and Dipankar Barman's cousin), and Mahesh Razzak (agreement department).
Speaking to reporters outside, one of them said, "Many of the employees also invested through the company, and we are yet to receive our money back."
Notably, Assam police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) simultaneously questioned the employees. The agency seized their mobile phones and are now going through their documents and bank accounts.
Problems surfaced in July this year when DB Stock Broking could not return the investors' money. The investors, some from outside Assam, gheraoed the company's office at Guwahati's Bora Service. Dipankar Barman, meanwhile, fled from the state and was hiding in Goa until recently when Guwahati police arrested him.
Reports suggest that he led a lavish lifestyle, spending crores of investor funds on throwing extravagant parties.
Earlier today, the employees of DB Stock Broking were summoned for questioning. The sleuths also sought the presence of investors as the probe deepens into Dipankar Barman, accused of orchestrating a massive Rs 7,000 crore scam through his firm.
This is not the first time the employees have faced scrutiny; they had previously encountered questioning at the Paltan Bazar police station. During that inquiry, they were allowed to leave after providing responses to the officers.
The police are particularly interested in obtaining information from the employees about how Dipankar Barman managed trading with public funds.