It is true that BM Vijay Shankar was found dead at his residence, police said (Representational)

Bengaluru:

An IAS officer, whom the CBI wanted to prosecute in the Rs 4,000-crore IMA ponzi scam, was found dead at his residence on Tuesday night, a senior police officer said.

According to police, the former deputy commissioner of Bengaluru urban district BM Vijay Shankar was found dead at his residence at Jayanagar in Bengaluru.

“It is true that he was found dead at his residence,” the officer told PTI, without elaborating.

Vijay Shankar was accused of allegedly accepting a bribe to hush up the IMA ponzi scheme.

He was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in 2019.

Later, when the BJP government came to power in the state, it handed over the case to the CBI.

Recently, the CBI sought state government’s permission to prosecute Shankar, along with two others, in connection with the case after interrogating them, the agency sources had told PTI.

The agency has also sought state government’s permission to prosecute two senior IPS officers in connection with the case.

Promising high returns, Mohammad Mansoor Khan started the ponzi scheme in 2013.

A CBI probe had shown that IMA group entities headed by Khan had raised illegal and unauthorised deposits in an alleged dishonest and fraudulent manner from innocent investors to the tune of over Rs 4,000 crore, raising the eyebrows of the income tax department and the RBI.

The top bank had written to the state government to probe the functioning of the IMA.

Subsequently, the government asked Vijay Shankar to submit a report on IMA.

Vijay Shankar assigned the task of preparing the report to the assistant commissioner of Bengaluru district LC Nagaraj.

It is alleged that Vijay Shankar and Nagaraj took Rs 1.5 crore through a village accountant Manjunath to hush up the alleged wrongdoings of Khan.

The case came to light when Khan fled to Dubai leaving behind a video message saying he was committing suicide because of “corruption in the state and central governments.”

Khan was arrested on July 19 last year on his arrival in New Delhi.

Along with him, seven directors of the IMA, a corporator, and a few others were arrested by the SIT.

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