Cuttack, Nov. 3: Orissa High Court has ordered a police probe into alleged fraud involving cheating of thousands of tribals of Kandhamal by a non-government financial organisation by offering different poverty alleviation schemes against deposits.

The court issued the order on a PIL seeking CBI probe into the alleged cheating by the organisation.

The organisation by floating pension scheme, housing scheme and food for life and life insurance schemes had allegedly attracted deposits to the tune of Rs 35 crore from nearly 50,000 tribal people in Kandhamal. The people had invested from Rs 2,500 to more than Rs 1 lakh in the hope that they would get back six times more money within a span of one-and-a-half months.

Dillip Mallick, 50, a social activist of Mallikapoda, and six others from Lingapada, Dibaguda, Dakedi, Hatikdau, Rudangia and Baudinaju under G. Udaygiri police station had filed the PIL.

“The poor depositors have paid the money by mortgaging their land, Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards and ornaments with village moneylenders and rich traders,” the petition alleged, while seeking direction for recovery of the amount from the organisation and release of mortgaged property.

The PIL had come up for hearing on October 28. The two-judge bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra had officer-in-charge of G. Udaygiri police station to conduct an inquiry and report.

“The court further issued notices to regional director of the RBI (Bhubaneswar), secretary of the home department, the Kandhamal collector and the Kandhamal superintendent of police,” petitioners’ counsel Sushanta Mishra said.

“The bench also asked for inclusion of the G.Udaygiri-based voluntary organisation — Cultural Society India — as a party in the PIL and issued notices to it,” Mishra said.

The petition stated the organisation was functioning as a non-banking financing company without Reserve Bank of India registration at G. Udaygiri, Daringbadi, Raikia, Balliguda, Tikabali, Chakapada, Sarangagada, Paburia, Phulbani and other areas of Orissa.

The alleged cheating was brought to the notice of G. Udaygiri police on September 9. The alleged culprit (chief functionary of the organisation) agreed to return back the money of all the depositors from September 19 and the police assured not to allow him to go anywhere till then. But, he escaped from the area on September 15.

“This has triggered suspicion and frustration among the depositors over getting back their money,” the petition claimed, expressing apprehension that “the frustrated tribals, particularly the women, may resort to suicide as their survival is now under threat if appropriate steps are not taken to release their property from the money lenders”.