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Investors agitate against plantation companies

The Investors Grievances Forum on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of the Securities and Exchange Board of India headquarters in south Bombay to protest against the illegal activities of certain plantation companies, which have robbed its members of billions of rupees in the last few years.

Kirit Somaiya, Bharatiya Janata Party legislator and IGF president, led the demonstration of hundreds of small investors. ''Protect the right of investors in plantation companies'', ''Refund the depositor's money in these plantation companies'', ''CBI must inquire into this scam" and ''Arrest the directors and freeze the assets of plantation companies'' were some of the demands raised by the demonstrators.

A delegation later met SEBI Director Ashok Kakkar and presented their complaints.

More than Rs 250 billion are mopped up by the 3,600-odd plantation companies across the country. Some companies divert the funds to other organisations, the whereabout of which are not known, thus fooling the investors, the delegation claimed.

The aggrieved at the demonstration included the investors of Libra plantations, Agrotech Ltd, DSJ, Aerogloble and Indofrench Biotech.

UNI