The multi-crore Loni Urban Multi State Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society (LUCC) scam in Dehradun has expanded, with Bollywood actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath now included in the list of accused. Both were reportedly promoted as brand ambassadors to encourage public investment. Victims claim they were told the society was a registered institution under the Government of India, leading them to deposit several crores in different schemes.
The main accused, Sameer Agarwal, has fled abroad after multiple cases were registered. Authorities have issued a Blue Corner notice and a Look Out Circular against him. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently examining the case, and the High Court has directed Uttarakhand Police to fully support the CBI, including providing manpower, vehicles, office space, and accommodation for the investigation team.
An earlier team from CBCID visited the Mumbai residence of actor Shreyas Talpade, after which he secured an interim stay on arrest from the Supreme Court. The society was registered as a multi-state cooperative with operations permitted only in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Despite this, branches were opened across several districts in Uttarakhand, where money was collected with promises of high returns and regular dividends.
The first complaint in the scam was lodged at Kotdwar Kotwali by Tripti Negi, who worked as an agent and claimed that monthly recurring deposit payments collected from customers were not deposited. She said the branch managers and employees failed to provide answers when questioned about missing entries.
Over 60 individuals and officials of the society, including managers, agents, and directors, have been named in the case along with the two actors. The accused list includes:
Girish Chand Singh, Urmila Bisht, Jagmohan Bisht, Anita Negi, Sameer Agarwal, Shabab Hussain, R.K. Sethi, Sanjay Mudgil, Shreyas Talpade, Alok Nath, Uttam Kumar, Maya Rajput, Paritosh Pant, Dinesh Singh, Vinita Bhatt, Tarun Maurya, Bimla Saxena, Shailendra, Mamta Bhandari, Vineet Singh, Pragya Rawat, Sarojri Bisht, Sonia Rawat, Harendra Singh, Prakash Singh Bhandari, Shivani, Arvind Khushwah, Ajay Kumar, Sabir Ali, Rakesh Kumar, Raghuvinder Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Santosh Kumar, Shashi Bhushan, the LUCC Society itself, Sangeeta Rana, Vijendra, Indu Upadhyay, Mahendra, Shammi, Govind Verma, Prakash Bhandari, Neha Bhandari, Manjar Hussain, Shubham Mamgai, and Himanshu Sharma.
Police and CBI officials are under pressure to trace the financial trail and recover the large sums allegedly collected from citizens across the state.
