ITAHARI: Depositors are spending sleepless nights as the proprietors of Om Chameli Traders and Suppliers (OCTS) have absconded after swindling millions of rupees from them.

According to depositors, OCTS had its headquarters in Lalbandi of Sarlahi and had been operating branches in Itahari, Dharan,

Dhankuta and Damak. The proprietors absconded after swindling over Rs 100 million rupees of the depositors. Furious depositirs said the members of the board of directors were out of contact.

Deposit collector of Itahari branch Shobha Gautam said the branch had not returned the deposit of Rs 7.5 million rupees collected by her. It is learnt that OCTS was operating as a cooperative. It also came to light that it has not been registered under the Company Act.

Locals said that some depositors had filed a complaint with the police against OCTS accusing it of swindling money but no investigation was carried out. In a press conference organized in Dharan on Saturday, manager of OCTS’ Dharan branch announced his walkout from the branch following its misdeeds.

Chairman of OCTS’ Itahari branch Bharat Saha, members of the board of directors Dhruba Shanker Ghimire, Ram Pukar Ray, Chet Bahadur Karki and Nageshwar Mahato are out of station, said deposit collectors.