Dibrugarh, Sept 12: Dibrugarh police produced both Sumi Borah and her husband Tarkik Borah before the court on Thursday in connection with the Dibrugarh Police Station case no. 352/2024.
Dibrugarh police had requested seven days of police custody but the court granted 5 days of police custody for both.
The police on Thursday arrested actor-choreographer Sumi Borah and her photographer husband Tarkik Borah for their alleged involvement in an online stock trading scam estimated to be worth at least Rs 2,200 crore.
The Special Task Force (STF) of the police detained the couple on their way to Dibrugarh where they had planned to surrender before the police after being on the run for 10 days.
The duo was brought to the Dibrugarh Police Station at around 9 am on Thursday amid tight security.
According to sources, the duo was kept in Gymkhana club and had breakfast before being brought to the Dibrugarh police station.
Earlier, a lookout notice was issued against the duo, the actor’s brother and her sister-in-law. The police had earlier made a breakthrough on September 11 by arresting Tarkik Borah’s brother Amlan Borah from Bihar.
The online trading scam, in operation for almost three years, involved investment of money collected from clients in “shares” of companies with the promise of almost double the return in 60 days. The money was allegedly invested in some private unlisted companies.
“The game is up for them. Compliments to the Team STF,” Assam’s Director General of Police, Gyanendra Pratap Singh, had posted on X on Thursday morning.
“The duo were handed over to the Dibrugarh Police at around 9am by the STF. We will interrogate them and take their detailed statements after which a clear picture will emerge,” Dibrugarh SP Rakesh Reddy said.
A day earlier, in a video message that went viral on social media, Sumi Borah had announced her decision to surrender. Denying her involvement in the financial fraud, she said she was made a victim of a media trial.
“Less than 10% of what is being reported is true. Even before the court has had a chance to prove me guilty, the media has destroyed my life with its allegations,” she said, adding that the mental stress made her lie low and not escape from the law.
The scam was busted earlier in September with the arrest of Bishal Phukan, the alleged 22-year-old mastermind from Dibrugarh, who reportedly defrauded more than 1,500 people promising them almost double the returns in 60 days. Some investors claimed they took huge loans from banks or sold their gold jewelleries to invest in the fraudulent scheme floated by Phukan. He initially returned the small invested amounts along with some interest but stopped after clients, lured by the profit, began investing larger sums.
According to police, Sumi Borah used to lure the investors on behalf of Bishal Phukan by promising them exorbitant returns in a short time. Several businessmen and doctors were among the investors. It is alleged that most of the investors who had invested huge sums which ran into crores have been reluctant to approach the police as they had invested their black money.
Their new found riches allowed Bishal Phukan and Sumi Borah to indulge in every luxury imaginable. They were often seen in five-star hotels and were known to spend lavishly on designer clothing, high end cars and expensive gadgets.
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