Couple arrested for operating fake chit fund firm

Hyderabad: A couple was arrested from Balapur here for allegedly operating a chit fund firm and duping scores of depositors of money to the tune of over Rs 1 crore, police said today.

Accused Kshama Vijayawargi and her husband Jitender Vijayawargi were running a chit fund business under the name of 'Dhanalakshmi Finance' and collected money from investors every month since June 2012, police said.

"However, they allegedly did not return the amount after the maturity of the scheme in January 2014," they said.

Based on a complaint lodged by one of the investors in March 2014 against the couple, police booked a case on charge of cheating, misappropriation and threatening with dire consequences with an intention to cheat the depositors.

The couple was arrested yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Charminar Division) K Ashoka Chakravarthi said.

"It came to light that they had allegedly cheated investors to the tune of over Rs 1 crore," the ACP said, adding that the probe is on.