Assam: CBI Files Charge Sheet against Two Accused in Trading Scam Case

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today filed a charge sheet against two accused in a trading scam case, namely Biswanath Roy and Mridul Dutta, before the Special CBI Court at Guwahati. The charge sheet has been filed within 90 days of the arrest of the accused duo, presently lodged in judicial custody.

The CBI had registered the instant case on October 14, 2024, under RC 221/2024/E0018, at the request of the Government of Assam for taking over the investigation in the case originally registered by Dispur police station against AJRS Marketing Pvt. Ltd. It was alleged that AJRS Marketing Pvt. Ltd. engaged in illegal trading activities without requisite permissions from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). There has been a surge of such fraudulent activities in Assam recently. The investigating agency is probing the case pertaining to a multi-level deposit scheme involving deposits collected under the trade names “Ayurvedlife” and “AJRS Trading.” Investors were allegedly lured to deposit their hard-earned money with promises of substantial returns and incentives such as bikes, cars, and foreign trips upon reaching specific investment thresholds. Subsequently, the deposits were allegedly misappropriated, leading to a fraud of around Rs 5.14 crore and affecting around 2600 victims, mainly from Assam.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused, Biswanath Roy and Mridul Dutta, marketed and promoted an unregulated deposit scheme of AJRS. They met with potential depositors and presented the non-existing business model before them by providing brochures of Ayurvedlife, AJRS Trading, and AJRS Group to depositors through digital modes of communication like WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp chats with individuals, which lured potential depositors to deposit a large sum of their hard-earned money. The duo made false promises to depositors of doubling their deposits within 200 days through the unregulated deposit schemes.

The accused duo of Biswanath Roy and Mridul Dutta solicited members to join their multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, through which each participant had to recruit others to earn commission on the deposits made by other members.

The charge sheet has been filed against Roy and Dutta under Section 120B IPC (corresponding to Section 61(2) BNS) read with Sections 409 IPC (316(5) BNS), 420 IPC (318(4) BNS), and Sections 25, 21(1), 21(2), and 21(3) read with Section 23 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019, along with substantive offences.

CBI is continuing further investigation in order to examine the roles of other accused persons, including Gopal Paul. Notably, the accused Gopal Paul, Director of M/s. AJRS Marketing Private Limited, was also arrested by CBI in this case on November 12, 2024, and is presently under judicial custody.

Also Read: CBI Nabs Proprietor of Guwahati-Based Firm in Online Trading Ponzi Scam Case

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