Police investigations, however, have revealed that the embezzlement hit a large section of the economically backward, who invested their hard-earned money in the non-banking financial organisation in hope of quick returns.

Among them are Anjanaben Kiran Kumar Pandya, a larri-galla operator, who deposited Rs 500 every day for six months to reach a sum of Rs 87,700; Gorwa-based domestic help Maniben Vikrambhai Mali, who collected Rs 30,750 over two years; plastic bag-seller Jalpaben Ghanshyam, who put aside Rs 20 each day to accumulate Rs 5,000 in less than nine months.

Higher on the economic ladder but as badly affected are Life Insurance Corporation agents, employees of private firms and small-time businessmen, most of whom were saving up to buy residential accommodation,according to investigating officer sub-inspector B P Kansariya, who has met 40 Rapti investors so far.

By swindling them, the company effectively demolished their hopes for a better life. There is little chance they will ever get their money back, for all efforts to trace the culprits so far have been in vain.

Computerised data seized from the Rapti offices at Siddharth Complex, R C Dutt Road, shows the company had around Rs 35 lakhs deposited with it in May-end this year. However, its three accounts in the Alkapuri branch of the Oriental Bank of Commerce yielded a total of just Rs 49,000. Significantly, no money was deposited in the company's accounts after May 31, a fortnight before 600 Rapti branch offices and its Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, head office abruptly shut shop.

A Vadodara police team, which went to Gorakhpur in search of the local branch's divisional manager Shailendra Pratap Shahi, zonal manager Bishwajit Chatterji, branch manager Om Prakash Dube and chairman Subodh Kumar Nath -- a nativeof Gorakhpur -- came back empty-handed; neither the UP investors nor the police were able to offer any help. About the only ray of hope for Rapti investors is the huge land holdings of the company in Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Kansariya says local investors plan to sell the property and share the proceeds. Similarly, in Vadodara, investors have their eye on Rapti's 3,000 sq ft office premises, which can fetch between Rs 35 and 40 lakh, according to real estate dealers.

However, there are no quick gains in the offing. Arrest warrants were issued for Nath and the three Vadodara-based executives on September 7 and sent to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Gorakhpur. But action on the local property can be initiated only if the culprits are not arrested within three months.