Aarudhra scam: TN police told to file action taken report

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu police to file an Action Taken Report (ATR) on complaints filed against financial firms including Aarudhra and Hijau.

Earlier in 2022, the police had arrested many suspects in connection with the Aarudhra Gold Trading and Hijau Associates scams.

Subsequently, Ramesh Lakshmipathy from Tiruvannamalai urged the court on Friday to transfer all cases related to the economic crimes in the State to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and requested that cases be investigated by a retired judge of the Madras High Court.

“Many financial firms including Aarudhra, Hijau and LNS cheated the public by promising to give them monthly interest up to 15% and illegally transferred around 15,000 crore to foreign countries. Such firms pay interest to the investors only for a few months, then show a loss, shut down and flee abroad. The middle-class people who have invested in such firms have been affected. Many die by suicide because they’re unable to get their money back,” Lakshmipathy stated in his petition.

When the petition came up for the hearing before acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, the bench ordered the State police to file an ATR on the petition. And the bench directed Lakshmipathy to file a detailed petition before the court and adjourned the hearing to March 24.