Monday, 23 January 2023 | PNS | HARIDWAR
A major fraud in an Islamic banking has come to light in Haridwar district with a man absconding with many crores of rupees invested by thousands of people. The accused Abdul Razak was operating a ‘Muslim fund’ in Jwalapur area and has absconded with crores of rupees deposited. As soon as the depositors came to know about Razak going on the run, they approached the police and registered a case against him. The police are now searching for him.
According to the information received, interest money is considered ‘haram’ in Islam due to which some traditional followers of the religion do not deposit their money in banks. Taking advantage of this, Sarai Jwalapur resident Abdul Razak used to collect money on daily, weekly and monthly basis from members of the Muslim community across the socio-economic range for the past many years.
He had opened his office years ago in the name of Kabir Mutual Benefit Fund Limited at some distance from Jwalapur Kotwali. Many people used to do the work of collecting money for the enterprise. The Muslim depositors used to consider the money safe here, but people were shocked on Sunday morning when they came to know that Razaq had absconded after locking his office and house.
According to sources, about 22,000 people living in Jwalapur and nearby Muslim dominated villages had opened accounts with him. People had deposited amounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to a couple of lakhs. One of his purported victims, Kamil said he had an account with Razak’s enterprise for the past six years. His family members also had accounts in the same place with money being deposited both on a daily and lump sum basis. “I came to know on Sunday that Razak was absconding and I reached his office to find a large number of people already gathered there. I have also lodged a case against him,” he said.
Jwalapur area resident Nagma said that she has a young daughter, for whose marriage she was depositing money in the fund for the past several years. She is a widow and her daughter’s marriage is in February, but with Razak running away with the money the marriage plans are not that certain now.
Superintendent of police (City) Swatantra Kumar Singh said that Abdul Razak has disappeared after taking crores of rupees from the people. Preliminary investigation revealed that around 22,000 people had opened accounts with him depositing many crores of rupees. Apart from registering a case agains the accused on the basis of complaint applications received from the people, the special operation group has also been directed to nab the accused. The police expect to catch the accused soon, he added.
