The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is investigating an alleged investment fraud of about Rs 670 crore involving around 7,400 investors across the country, allegedly orchestrated by Nanavath Bhupal Naik, a former mason and petrol-pump attendant from Vikarabad district, through two companies — Shares Bazaar Pvt Ltd (SBPL) and Kisaan Parivar Ltd (KPL) — according to the EOW, as reported by Hyderabad Mail and Mirror Now. All allegations are as stated by the police; the accused is in custody and the investigation is continuing.

Source: Hyderabad Mail

Investigators said Naik allegedly attracted investors by promising monthly returns of around 4 per cent — reported in other accounts as annualised promises ranging from 18 to 48 per cent — even though SBPL did not have the requisite permission to collect deposits. The EOW alleged that money collected from new investors was used to pay returns to earlier investors, in a Ponzi-style arrangement that continued until it became unsustainable in 2025, with interest and principal payments reportedly stopping in October 2025.

Source: Mirror Now

The probe widened from a complaint by a 58-year-old retired Navy Commodore from Mokila, Hyderabad, who alleged a loss of Rs 4.51 crore; the principal cheating case was registered on June 15 and five people have been arrested in it, including Bhupal Naik, his uncle Babu Naik, his brother and police constable Santosh Naik, and associates Shankar Rao and Rambabu, according to reporting of the EOW investigation. The EOW has received more than 500 complaints so far, with complainants reporting losses exceeding Rs 70 crore.

Source: The420 (TOI reporting)

According to the EOW account reported by Hyderabad Mail, Naik joined a stock brokerage firm as an agent in 2013-14, opened a franchise in Kukatpally in 2016 and registered KPL the same year, ostensibly to promote organic farming by pooling land from marginal farmers; the company remained inactive for years. In 2020 he established SBPL as a stock-trading firm, and from 2022-23 allegedly used his client network and online promotions to attract investments into both companies. Police said about Rs 35 lakh currently remains in the 70 identified bank accounts, and a forensic audit of SBPL and KPL has been ordered and is expected to be completed this month.

Cyberabad police have identified 45 properties for attachment, including around 140 acres of agricultural land in Mahbubabad, Wanaparthy and Sangareddy districts — of which 70 acres were registered in the names of KPL investors under a scheme that allegedly offered five guntas of land for an investment of Rs 12.5 lakh with a promised tax-free return of 24 per cent and a 12-month lock-in — as well as two commercial properties of around 10,000 square feet and a villa in Kondapur, Hyderabad Mail reported.

Apart from the three cases with the Cyberabad EOW, five more cases have been registered against SBPL, KPL and their directors in Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, and police said Naik had been arrested in cases in Punjab and Gujarat and remained in jail. An EOW official also said Naik had wanted to contest the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections and spent money towards that objective but could not secure a ticket. The investigation is continuing, with the forensic audit expected to establish further details of the companies' transactions and the movement of investors' money.