Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: Saheed Nagar police today detained two employees of a private finance company after a group of people complained that the company had cheated them of cash worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The victims said officials of the Saheed Nagar-based Subhasatyam Investment group of companies had promised them higher rates of interest on every investment they made in the company. However, it did not pay the investors the promised interest. Around 40 investors and agents who had been employed by the company lodged a complaint with the Saheed Nagar police.

“They had promised to pay us interest at 11 per cent in three months. But the company did not pay me my interest and whenever I tried to contact them, they would issue threats,” said Sankar Sahu, one of the complainants.

Even a few agents, who had asked these people to invest in the company, came to the police station to complain against their employers.

“We were employed by the company to convince people to invest in it. When we came to know that these people were not paid the promised money, we tried to argue with our employers. But they threatened and fired us,” said an agent.

The police registered a case and detained two employees of the company. The victims have lodged complaints against seven persons, including managing director Hemant Samantray. “If they are found to be true, we will arrest these two employees,” said inspector in-charge of Saheed Nagar police station K.P. Mishra. He added that they would check the exact number of people cheated by the company and the amount of money involved in the fraud.

Sources in the company denied they had cheated anyone. Some expelled employees had floated another company in the city who had cheated these people in the name Subhasatyam Investment group of companies, they said.