Bengaluru: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) sleuths conducted raids on the residence and offices of senior Congress leader and former minister Zameer Ahmed. Simultaneously, raids were conducted at former minister Roshan Baig's residence on Thursday. 

The ED officers have raided Zameer Ahmed's opulent house near Cantonment area, Shivaji Nagar, in Bengaluru. ED Sleuths came in a private car at the premises early morning. Questioning is underway regarding the disproportionate income and assets of Zameer Ahmed.  Also, the officials are verifying property-related documents, business transactions at National Travels and other commercial activities.

Both the leaders are under the ED scanner in the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) multi-crore ponzy scheme.

In July, the State government had provisionally attached the immovable and movable properties of Roshan Baig under the Karnataka Protection of interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act, 2004 in the IMA scam.

The IMA scheme attracted thousands of people, who invested their money in it assured of high returns in ‘halal’ (or shariah-compliant) investments.  In March 2019, the company ceased paying dividends to investors. The company's offices were closed to customers on 29 May 2019. Complaints by investors, which numbered 41,000 within three weeks of the closure, finally enabled investigators to proceed where they had been unable to before.

Mohammed Mansoor Khan, main accused in the ponzy scheme, had specifically named Zameer Ahmed and Roshan Baig's name in a video posted prior to his arrest by the Ed in July 2019.

Protest outside Zameer Ahmed's bungalow:

As the news spread about ED raids, supporters of the leader gathered outside Zameer Ahmed's residence in the Cantonment area. The supporters alleged the BJP government of vendetta politics against the leader who has helped poor sections of the society during the pandemic.