MUMBAI, Feb 14: An Indian regulator has frozen the bank accounts of two companies of the giant Sahara group after it failed to obey a court order to repay billions of dollars illegally collected from investors.

Sahara, a household name in India and sponsor of the national cricket team, raised 240bn rupees in illegal bond sales to 30m small investors between 2008 and 2011.

The Supreme Court said in August Sahara had “no right to collect” the funds from millions of investors without complying with regulatory provisions and ordered it to repay $3bn with 15pc interest by the end of November. However, the firm has still not paid up most of the cash ordered by the court.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India  said on its website late on Wednesday it had ordered the freezing of bank accounts of tycoon Subrata Roy, Sahara’s chief, and three other directors.—AFP