Kulsumpura police on Thursday arrested a 50-year-old woman, who is the prime accused in a pyramid scam case. She was held on charges of duping people by promising to double their investments, through rituals, to the tune of Rs. one crore.
According to the police, the prime accused, Chand Sultana, is the leader of a 4-member gang of women who dupe other women by promising to double their investments by reciting verses of the Holy Quran.
The gang members lured innocent women by claiming that Chand Sultana had doubled the money invested by some people they knew, and that they would benefit from her.
The gang gained the trust of residents around the Karwan area by initially paying double the amount they had received after deducting some money as their 'commission'.
The gang used to generate money by collecting from two victims and paying one.
In this way they managed to trap more and more women till the day they could not generate collections as fast as they had to make payments.
Chand Sultana then vanished from the scene while her gang members maintained that she had gone on a pilgrimage to a dargah. After waiting a few days, the victims began to realize that they had been duped.
People of the locality waited for Chand Sultana to return to her residence, since she had bought luxury furniture and household appliances which were still at her house.
When Chand Sultana and her gang members returned to the house to collect their valuables, the neighbours surrounded them and gave them a sound thrashing before handing them over to the police on Wednesday.
It was also revealed that Chand Sultana has many complaints filed against her for conning people, in various police stations across the city.
She and her gang members were remanded to judicial custody, and further investigations are on.