Cheating by Insurance co Official
Depositors besiege office
Hundreds of depositors besieged the regional office of Sandhani Life Insurance Company at Aampatti in the district town yesterday afternoon in protest against alleged cheating by an official of the company.
The agitators, from Madhya Barera and Barera areas in Mymensingh Sadar upazila, said an official of the insurance company cheated some 2000 depositors, mostly poor, with false receipts in last couple of months.
They also blocked the road and chanted slogans demanding punishment of the officials involved in the cheating.
Police rushed to the spot and persuaded them to clear the road to ease traffic movement. Later the demonstrators went to Kotwali police station with a procession.
The victims said that Harun-or-Rashid, a resident of Barera, who has a DPS with Tk 700 per month, came to the insurance company office on Monday to know about his DPS. But to his utter surprise, he learnt that many of his instalments in last several months were not deposited with the office.
As the news of the 'wrongdoing in the company' reached Madhya Barera and Barera areas, the depositors confined Dolly Akhtar, a field worker of the insurance company, to her house at Madhya Barera on Tuesday morning. Being informed, Masud Rana, project director of the insurance company, went to the spot at noon to rescue Dolly but the agitated depositors confined him too.
Informed, police rushed to the spot and rescued Masud Rana and asked the depositors to come to the office with their complaints, said the victims. Masud Rana was taken to Kotwali police station early yesterday.
"We have been cheated by the insurance company but we were not even allowed to talk with the authorities yesterday," said Meherun Nessa, an elderly woman of Madhya Barera, who has three deposits with the insurance company.
Moyna, 25, wife of a rickshaw-van puller, said, "I have a 10-year term DPS with monthly instalment of Tk 100 and four years of the term has passed. Despite utter poverty, I have been depositing the money for the welfare of my family but now I am worried due to cheating by the insurance company."
Like them, many other depositors have urged the authorities to take proper steps so that they can get back their deposited money.
Contacted, Mala Acharya, officer-1 (Accounts) of the company, said, "After receiving the allegation on Monday, we investigated the matter and found that Masud Rana took instalments from many depositors by using false receipts for around last nine months. Masud Rana is wholly responsible for the crime and he must give back the money of the depositors."
Mala informed that there are some 20,000 depositors with the insurance company in Mymensingh Sadar upazila, 500 to 600 of them could have fallen victim to cheating by Masud Rana and the amount of cheated money would be Tk 5 to 6 lakh.
Several victims, on the other hand, claimed that more than 2000 depositors were cheated.
Mrinal Kanti Acharya, executive director of Sandhani Life Insurance Company, said, "Maud Rana is under police custody. A departmental case will be lodged against him."
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