Businessmen promising heavy discount on advance payment goes missing

Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, June 18: A private businessman, running a shop named ‘Kuubair’, offering almost 50 percent discount on every item, on advance payment, has gone missing. According to people who have booked some items from the businessman, the shop is closed since last three days and the owner is unreachable over phone. Now people fear that the owner has fled from these Islands after collecting heavy amount as advance from many other customers.

This is not the first time when such shady businessmen have runaway with public money. Nearly 10 years back one such business, with similar promise had escaped with hard earned money of customers.

Nearly a year back a furniture shop owner of Middle Point had gone missing from Port Blair, after collecting several lakhs of rupees from public as loan.

“The said shop was offering heavy discount on every item, which looked fishy. Smelling rat I have informed police department about this but no action was initiated against the shop owner. Now we can see that he has fled after duping general public,” Jijith Reck, Observer of A & N State BJP unit told Andaman Sheekha today.

However, when contacted the Superintendent of Police (South Andaman) Mr. SBS Tyagi today said that the Police Department had already initiated action on this issue nearly five days back.

“I had personally visited the shop and warned him against any illegal activity. The ASP, South Andaman and SHO of the area were with me. We had met nearly 50 shop owners and residents of that area and urged them to stay away from any mouth-watering officer, which could be a trap,” Mr. Tyagi added.

The SP assured Andaman Sheekha that if anyone lodges a complaint that he has been duped by the shop owner the Police Department will surely get hold of the shop owner. “Till now we have received no complaint in this matter. If we receive any complaint we will surely trap him,” the SP assured.

Many believe that the shop owner escaped from these island after realizing the fact that the Police Department is keeping an eye on him otherwise he would be committed much bigger fraud.