Three men have been arrested by the Nizamabad police in Telangana, for duping people of Rs 10 crore in the name of a lottery scheme. While two of the accused, identified as Mahommed Mansoor and Mohammed Abdul Azaz, were arrested on Thursday, July 16, the main accused Mohammed Abdul Feroz was arrested on Friday from his residence in Nizamabad. The police are currently searching for another accused, Syed Sohail, who is a resident of Hyderabad.
According to the One Town Police in Nizamabad, the group convinced people to pay them Rs 1,000 every month, for over 20 months, duping them into believing that this was for a lucky draw scheme. As many as 1,200 people subscribed to the scheme and regularly paid the group money between May 2019 and December 2020. An Investigation Officer (IO) said, "They assured the scheme members that they would get a chance to win 75 plots in Nizamabad, besides chance of winning ornaments, cars and other vehicles in 20 months. Believing this, many took subscriptions to the lucky draw scheme, but later they have swindled them." The group purportedly even opened an office in Nizamabad, under the name Sunshine Enterprises.
The police said the accused would travel to villages around Nizamabad, Armoor and Bodhan, as well as some areas in Nirmal district, to convince people to give them their money. They intended to collect Rs 11 crore in this way, and according to the police, managed to get Rs 10 crore. They used the money to buy lands, which they would then sell to amass more money. They told authorities that the profits from selling the land was returned to the people from whom they collected the money; however, the complainants said they never saw their money again. The police said that the accused purchased 11 acres of agricultural land at ARP Camp in Yedpally mandal of Nizamabad.
Nizamabad Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Venkateshwarlu told TNM that while three have been arrested so far, the police are likely to arrest five more people after investigating their role in the scam. The police added that the case was registered after receiving several complaints from victims of the lucky draw scheme. The case was registered under sections 420 (punishment for cheating and dishonestly inducing property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code and r/w 34 of the IPC, along with Money Circulation (Prizes) Schemes Act and Sections 3 & 4 (1) (a) (b) of Telangana Lotteries Act 1968.