The government today said it was scrutinising on a "top priority" basis the alleged defrauding of depositors by Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Finance and promised action against the guilty at the earliest.
"Officials have been asked to look into the issue as top priority," Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told PTI.
"Those who are responsible should be punished in the shortest possible time, as is the norm for any such practices. Punishment has to be commensurate with the offence committed," he said.
Executives of Nagarjuna Finance, a non-banking financial company, are under investigation for the company's failure to return about Rs 100 crore to depositors in 1997-98.
It had raised deposits from general public but failed to repay the amount on maturity. The company had approached Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2001 and obtained orders for the police not to arrest directors and other employees of the company.
The High Court vacated the stay in September last year, paving the way for further investigation.
Last month, the state police arrested K S Raju, chairman of Nagarjuna Finance. Along with him, former director in the NBFC P K S Madhav, who is also CEO of Maytas Properties, was taken into custody.
The police yesterday arrested another director of the company G S Raju at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, when he was trying to board a flight to the US.
