Bhubaneswar, March 24: Around 70 agents of money deposit collection company Agri Gold today staged a demonstration in front of the directorate of medical education and training, seeking permission to sell their kidneys to return money to the duped investors.

The Andhra Pradesh-based sham deposit company had allegedly collected money to the tune of Rs 700 crore from 1.5 lakh investors in the state through its 20,000 agents.

The agents alleged that they were being subjected to mental and physical torture by the investors after the Ponzi firm had shut down its 10 offices in the state in 2015.

"After the Ponzi company had shut down its operations, we moved Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking confiscation of the fraudulent firm's properties and subsequently auctioning them to repay the public money," said Prakash Mohanty, an agent.

"But, the process is getting delayed, for which the investors have been threatening us. Some of us have also been hiding for the past one year to protect ourselves from them," he said.

Sources said the Ponzi firm had duped around Rs 7,000 crore to 40 lakh people, including eight lakh agents from several states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha. The sham deposit collection company shut down its operations with the Securities and Exchange Board of India imposing a ban on collection of money by the firm.

"The investors has been threatening us of dire consequences if we do not refund them the money. The investors have also been threatening our family members, so we don't have any option but to repay their investments. If the directorate allows us to sell our kidneys, we will be able to generate some money and refund the investments. Our family members should not suffer for the fraud committed by the company," said Sudhir Khuntia, another agent.

The Ponzi firm, which had its headquarters in Vijayawada, was set up in 1995. In 2007, it started collecting investments with assurance of doubling the invested amount in six years.

The firm had invested money in real estate, plantation and dairy.

In 2016, Andhra police had arrested five office-bearers of the company, including the group chairman Avva Venkata Rama Rao.