The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID), in coordination with the Karnataka CID, will conduct verification of AgriGold bonds and receipts at nine centres across Karnataka from October 27 to facilitate relief for depositors, victims, legal heirs and agents.
The verification exercise follows the Andhra Pradesh government’s constitution of a five-member Group of Ministers to review and address issues concerning AgriGold depositors. Special teams have been formed by the Andhra Pradesh CID, with the support of the Karnataka CID, to verify and register original bonds and receipts held by claimants.
The centres have been established in Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Mandya, Bagalkot, Udupi, Raichur, Dakshina Kannada, Chickballapur and Hassan. Verification will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Sundays.
The Bengaluru centre will function at the Office of the DGP, CID, Carlton House, Palace Road. The other centres will be located at the respective district police headquarters.
The first phase of verification will be held from October 27 to November 2 at Tumakuru, Mandya and Bagalkot, besides Bengaluru, where the exercise will continue until November 6. The remaining centres are scheduled to conduct verification from November 11 to 18.
The verification plan was drawn up following a meeting between Pronab Mohanty, DGP, CID, Karnataka, and senior Andhra Pradesh CID officials.
Documents required for verification
Depositors have been asked to bring their original AgriGold bonds, cash receipts or other relevant documents for verification. The original bonds will be returned after verification, and claimants need to submit signed colour photocopies with all details, including bond numbers, clearly visible.
Depositors who are alive must produce photocopies of their Aadhaar card or other identity proof, PAN card and bank passbook, along with a recent passport-size photograph and mobile numbers linked to their bank accounts. The bank passbook must clearly show the account holder’s name, account number and IFSC code.
In cases where the depositor has died, the nominee must produce the original bond, the death certificate of the depositor, identity documents, bank details and a ration card or family member certificate.
If both the depositor and nominee are deceased, the legal heir must furnish the relevant death certificates, identity documents, a legal heir or family member certificate, bank details and other prescribed records.
Depositors unable to attend the centres personally may authorise a family member to represent them. The representative must carry identity proof, documents establishing the family relationship and an authorisation letter from the depositor.
Agents submitting bonds must produce each original bond for verification and submit colour photocopies. The identification number of every bond will be recorded separately, and the total number of bonds submitted will be counted and entered in the records.
Applicants whose agents’ details are unavailable may mention “Unknown/Not Available” in the application. An acknowledgement receipt will be issued for the documents received.
Nodal officers
The Andhra Pradesh CID has designated K. Eswara Rao, IPS, Superintendent of Police, CID, and S. Sreedhar, IPS, Superintendent of Police, CID, as nodal officers to assist depositors. They can be contacted at 9440019555 and 9154088406, respectively.
The authorities have urged depositors, victims, legal heirs and agents to attend the designated centres with the prescribed documents to ensure smooth verification and registration of their claims.
The AgriGold scam is an inter-State financial fraud worth roughly ₹6,380 crore to ₹7,000 crore that duped about 32 lakh depositors (including nearly 19.18 lakh to over 20 lakh in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) after operating illegally as an unapproved Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) without RBI or SEBI authorisation since 1995.