Gangtok, Feb. 27: A man and a woman sharing the same name and surname have used their financial companies as a front to swindle around Rs 22 crore out of people living in different parts of Sikkim.

Bishnu Rai, the woman managing director (MD) of Bharosha Pvt. Ltd, is said to have fled from the state and is in hiding. The other Bishnu Rai is the MD of two companies — Bisco Pvt. Ltd and Tina Finlease. He was released on bail after spending some time in the state jail in Rongyek.

The Rais had once been business partners but later went their separate ways.

“We have launched a manhunt for the missing Bishnu Rai,” said deputy inspector-general of police (range) Akshay Sachdeva. “We request those who were duped to lodge FIRs.”

According to the company records available with the police, the total amount swindled by Bharosha is around Rs 14 crore, while the figure is Rs 8 crore for Bisco and Tina Finlease. People were lured into depositing money with the companies by the high interest rates on offer.

Flouting RBI guidelines, Bharosha, Bisco and Tina Finlease had offered interest rates as high as 18 per cent in certain fixed deposit schemes.

Last week, the police picked up nine employees of Bharosha from Gangtok and Namchi, including regional director Sambu Haldar and the in-charge of the Namchi branch, Chandra Kala Sewa.

The arrested persons and the company have been booked under Sections 409, 418 and 420 of the IPC (cheating and criminal breach of trust) and Sections 4 and 5 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

The arrests were made after more than 50 people lodged FIRs against the companies in different police stations of the state. The police said they were a small fraction of the total number of people who had been duped.

Bharosha, Bisco and Tina Finlease have failed to pay back the maturity amounts since the second half of 2007.

The duped people have now turned their ire on the Sikkim government for allowing the companies to do business in the state. The companies are registered with the state law department, but not with the Security Exchange Board of India, which is compulsory.

“How can such companies operate under government licence and then get away with fraud?” asked a depositor who did not wish to be named. The shopkeeper from Rabongla had deposited Rs 60,000 with Bharosha on a two-year fixed deposit scheme.