Sanjivani investors losing hope of getting back cash

JAIPUR: Pinky Agarwal (28) had put in her family’s savings into

Sanjivani

Credit Cooperative Society in Jodhpur hoping better treatment for her ailing mother.

Little did she know that Rs 22 lakh that she had invested in the society would never return. Like her, several lakh of investors are now running from pillar to post.

“The SOG has submitted a

chargesheet

in the case. But I don’t see how the government plans to return at least the principal investment,” she said, adding that her mother is a heart patient and each month her family has to spend Rs 10,000 for treatment. Many investors were buoyed by the society’s the assets which includes prime properties in Rajasthan and abroad, including farms in Ethiopia and New Zealand. At the dawn of its influence, Sanjivani attracted people from all walks of life including elderly men on the verge of retirement from their private companies to widowed mothers hoping to send their children to attend leading colleges.

“We have learnt that the society has assets worth Rs 300 crore. There are approximately 2 lakh investors totalling Rs 1,000 investment. How will government distribute it and how much?” asked Tarunveer, who had hoped to buy a house someday from his investment of Rs 10 lakh.

Another investor said the chief accused, Vikram Singh, is close to a major political leader in the national capital due to which the money is unlikely to be restored. “The arrests offer little solace to us. In fact, after the chargesheet is submitted, Vikram can now easily walk out. His social media timelines are flooded with pictures of influential politicians,” said an investor who didn’t wish to reveal his identity.

Across Rajasthan’s Sirohi, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Jalore, Bikaner and Pali districts, their investors who have harrowing stories to tell. Like Pinky, a 70-year-old man, who had put his money into Sanjivani sank into depression after he learnt that his Rs 15 lakh were lost into one of the state biggest ever scam.

There are regular meetings and anxious WhatsApp discussions about finding ways to get the money back. “We also wrote to the PMO, a reply came a few days later informing us that our plea has been forwarded to the state government. The government has no detailed response to our problem. We have agitated at every level and many of us are now exhausted,” she said. Such was the brazen audacity of Sanjivani’ office bearers that when they learnt of the SOG’s investigation, the accused threw files into water. as many as 60,000 files containing nearly 2 lakh pages were being dried up in Jodhpur with the help of heaters and fans. “When the accused learnt that SOG is closing in on them, they threw these files into water. Luckily for us, we quickly recovered all these files,” an official said.