The Rs 470 crore investment fraud case related to Pune’s OPC Pvt. Ltd. has been making waves in the news, leaving 18,000 investors from across India allegedly defrauded. The main accused, director Dr. Srikanth Acharya, was arrested following the filing of a case under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act at Mouda police station in Nagpur district for a fraud amounting to Rs 41.30 lakh. However, the recent turn of events has raised many eyebrows, as Dr. Acharya was granted regular bail merely two months after being in police custody for 12 days, as per a report in a local Marathi daily.
Initially, Dr. Srikanth Acharya, the prime accused in the Rs 41.30 lakh fraud case, was apprehended by Mouda Police and Nagpur Rural Economic Offences Wing, leading to a 12-day police custody. Surprisingly, once the 12-day custody ended, Dr. Acharya was granted bail, making him the first accused in an MPID case to be released within such a short period.
Legal experts are expressing significant concern about the case, considering the massive fraud amounting to Rs 470 crore. Another fraud case of Rs 41.30 lakh was registered at Mouda police station, and both cases saw the application of the MPID Act. While Dr. Srikanth Acharya is currently in custody at a Pune jail, his fugitive accomplices remain at large. The police’s apparent inability to apprehend these individuals has sparked questions about the efficacy of the measures taken to catch them.
The State Government has taken a serious interest in the matter, given the controversial bail granted to the main accused. Numerous questions are being raised, including the reasons for the failure to arrest the other accomplices and the extent of efforts made by the authorities in this regard. Moreover, suspicions are being cast on the secrecy observed by the police during the time between Dr. Acharya’s arrest and his bail, leading to concerns about the information that may have been extracted from him during the 12-day police custody.
The ongoing Rs 470 crore investment fraud case involving OPC Pvt. Ltd. and its director, Dr. Srikanth Acharya, continues to draw attention due to the substantial number of affected investors and the swift bail granted to the main accused under the MPID Act. The inability of the police to apprehend the other fugitive accomplices and the alleged secrecy during the investigation have further complicated the case, leaving many questioning the transparency and effectiveness of the ongoing probe.
