The attachment of properties belonging to M/s Amway India Enterprises Private Limited by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) this week is the culmination of years of work, and lengthy and in-depth investigations into multi-level marketing (MLM) companies by a handful of police officers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, especially IPS officer V C Sajjanar.
Other IPS officers who tirelessly pursued the MLM companies include Charu Sinha who kept up the pressure on Amway, K Raghuram Reddy who, as superintendent of police (SP) of Kurnool, arrested then Amway India managing director William Scott Pickney, and Dwaraka Tirumala Rao who chargesheeted Agri-gold and Akshaya Gold.
No other state followed the case against Amway like undivided Andhra Pradesh did. Sajjanar, who is now managing director of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), was a young SP in 2005 when, on a visit to his native Hubballi in Karnataka, he noticed hoardings advertising products of a company called Japan Life, including a magnetic bed.
“I was curious, and asked my friends about the hoardings. I sensed that something was not right, and the next day, without revealing that I was a police officer, I attended a meeting organised by distributors where they were telling people how to make loads of money quickly by becoming a distributor and enrolling members to sell these ‘miracle beds’. When I tried to ask a question about the viability of their business model, I was discouraged. I knew…
