Agent of NBFC which 'duped' depositors tries to end life

Under pressure from depositors, an agent of a financial firm which has shut shop allegedly attempted suicide with his wife and his son in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district on Tuesday.

The trio allegedly consumed poison at their residence in Shakti Nagar locality, said Virendra Chaturvedi, Station House Officer, Kotwali police station.

Vinayak Puranik (50) worked as an agent for Aadarsh Cooperative Society, a non-banking financial company based in Gujarat.

The company, which collected deposits by promising high returns, closed down in 2018, the police officer said.

Several people who had deposited money with the company through Puranik were now seeking their investment back, he said.

On Tuesday morning, Puranik, his wife Vrinda (40) and son Vedanta (18) allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming poison, but neighbours rushed them to hospital, the official said.

They were admitted to Intensive Care Unit, Chaturvedi said, adding that their condition was said to be out of danger.

Earlier, 18 people, including directors and managers of Aadarsh Cooperative Society, were arrested for duping investors.

The police are probing several unregulated financial ('chit fund') companies in the state. In the last four years, 403 cases have been registered against such firms.