NIZAMABAD: Several people who had been duped in the name of “lucky draw schemes” in Nizamabad district of Telangana during the peak of the pandemic have come together to form an association to get justice from the authorities. According to the association members, they were cheated by different people at different times and wanted the police to trace the guilty so that others do not have to suffer like them.
Most of the people who have fallen victim to these “lucky draw schemes” are from poor and middle-class backgrounds; they had toiled hard during the Covid first and second waves to invest some money into these lucky draw schemes. However, the organisers of these schemes have disappeared, after locking their offices.
According to the victims, there was a distinct pattern to the scams — the organisers used vividly printed brochures and costly items to woo investors. They targeted poor and middle-class families asked them to join in the scheme; collected huge amounts from the victims and vanished.
The organisers also popularised the schemes by targeting women. One of the schemes started in 2020 involved 3,000 members, each of them paying Rs 1,100 for 22 months. In the course of 20 months, 20 members won prizes and when the scheme matured, the organisers vanished. According to the association members, one woman was declared to have won a car in the scheme, but no one ever got it.
On Thursday, the association members, led by Bahujan Left Front (BLF) State president Dandi Venkat and working president Y Baburao lodged a complaint with district Collector C Narayan Reddy and copies were submitted to Nizamabad ACP A Venkateshwarlu and Bodhan ACP N Ramarao.
Speaking to Express, Dandi Venkat said that it has come to his knowledge that the organisers have started a similar scheme with four groups in the district and have already collected huge amounts. He advised association members to submit representations to the MPs and MLAs of the district while being careful about schemes that promise huge returns.