more-in MADURAI A group of people from Dhukkalapatti near Kallanthiri here have blamed Hindustaan Agri India Limited, a Tirunelveli-based company, for defrauding them of the money they deposited with the firm for more than five years. According to the villagers, almost all of whom are agricultural labourers, the company approached them in early 2013 with the offer of schemes involving monthly deposits which, it said, would be returned with a considerable interest after five years and three months. “They also brought some people from our own village, who acted as their agents. So, we trusted them and started paying the money,” said A. Ammasi, one of the affected persons. Stating that the company had offered different deposit plans with monthly instalments varying from ? 200 to ? 400, he said a person depositing ? 400 every month was promised a return of ? 36,000 after 63 months. R. Chinnaponnu, an agricultural labourer, who also takes up work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, said it was with much hardship that she paid ? 300 per month. “I could not have any other savings. Since everyone else in the village had joined the scheme, I also joined it, hoping that I would get a lump sum amount in the end,” she added. While the maturity period ended a few months back, the company did not return their money, the villagers alleged. The company and the agent in the village were pointing fingers at each other, they said. “When we visited the company’s branch office near Kalavasal junction here, they refused to return the money,” R. Selvi, another petitioner, said. The petitioners appealed to the Collector to direct the authorities concerned to investigate the company officials and the agent and ensure that they got their money back.

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