Chit fund victims take out protest rally in Kolkata

Tens of thousands of investors who lost their hard-earned savings by parking their money in ponzi schemes, Wednesday brought out a huge protest rally in central Kolkata demanding arrest of the culprits and repayment of the money.

The rallyists under the umbrella of the Chit Fund Sufferers Association walked from College Square to the Dorina Crossing and later submitted a memorandum to market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Leaders of the Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and some other leftist parties were part of the rally which paralysed large parts of central Kolkata.

Speaking on the occasion, CPI-M politburo member and leader of the opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra sought immediate arrest of the culprits and the "influential persons" who benefited from the scam.

"The money trail should be traced. All culprits and the influential persons who helped the kingpins of the scam and in turn took benefits should be arrested immediately.

"And the money collected by them should be unearthed and given back to the depositors who have lost their savings by parking their funds in ponzi schemes," he said.