Police bust NGO racketters gang

IMPHAL, July 16: The Imphal East police has cracked down on a shady NGO by the name of German Indo Benevolent for agricultural and Industrial Rural development, GIBARD, located at Hatta Golapati, closing down its office and arresting six of its central committee members yesterday, according to a reliable source. According to the sources, GIBARD has been giving gullible people the impression that it is a German-funded registered body with a net of Rs 100 crore German investments in it already. Using this guise, the NGO has been roping in educated unemployed youths promising them jobs after making them deposit money. The office bearers of the GIBARD have also been distributing donor's cards to MLAs and ministers on the payment of Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000. Not only this, they have also been throwing around the names of these ministers and MLAs to give weight to their false campaign and entice more people. The NGO has also released a number of advertisements in the newspapers calling for membership on the payment of Rs 200 each and promising extremely well paid jobs to those who enrol themselves. The job promised also commanded salaries as high as Rs 40,000 a month. In this way, GIBARD has today rounded up more than 100 members, according to the sources. GIBARD's trouble began when those who deposited money in the hope of cornering lucrative jobs were made to wait inordinately. These members have already formed a Joint action Committee and started different forms of protests. According to the source, the arrested men also had earlier set up a fake organisation at Old Lambulane called Readymade Garment, Handloom Development Centre. They then shifted to Hatta Golapati and before setting up GIBARD, ran another organisation by the name of The Manipur Rural Industrial Development Centre. Yesterday's raid was led by Imphal East SP Kailun, SDPO Tomba and OC Rameshor Singh. Interestingly, the GIBARD office raided yesterday is located at the residential complex of ex-minister, Hessamuddin. The source also said many of the applicants for jobs had backed up their applications forms with DO letters from ministers and MLAs.