Kendrapara, May 2: People at remote villages of the district seem not to have learnt any lessons from the money deposit collection scam with lakhs of depositors cheated by the sham companies.

They continue to deposit money with such companies and get duped. In the latest case following the registration of a complaint that hundreds of investors had been taken for a ride by a money circulation company at Mangalpur, Nikirai police have arrested four persons belonging to the alleged Ponzi firm, Sidha Mahapurusha Money Security.

It is alleged that the firm had run away with an estimated Rs 4 crore from economically backward and lower middle class investors at the remote villages within the jurisdiction of Kedrapara Sadar and Nikirai police stations. The company had been operating in these areas for the past two years. A manhunt has been launched to nab the fraudsters, the police said.

The cops arrested firm director Laxmi Priya Rout and three of her accomplices on April 29. People had not cross-checked credential of the company. Lured by the offer of hefty returns on investments, deposits were made in the company through its agents, said Nikirai police station inspector Pramod Lenka.

"The arrested persons booked under sections 34, 420 of the Indian Penal Code are being grilled. We have referred the matter to the crime branch's economic offences wing," he said.

The poor depositors were in for a rude jolt when they found the offices of the finance company closed. The company officials remained incommunicado with their mobile phones switched off. After finally realising that they have been taken for a ride, the duped investors went to the police.

Sources said a majority of the duped investors were lured into investing in the said deposit collection company as they were assured of abnormally high returns.

The investors mostly included marginal farmers, cattle farmers, daily farm workers and petty businessmen. Both the civil and police administration have alerted the people not to fall into trap of bogus finance companies.

"It is extremely unfortunate that people are recklessly investing in bogus companies and are losing their money," said Kendrapara district collector Debraj Senapati.