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Delhi:  If you thought kitty parties were all about harmless gossip and home-cooked food, think again. Delhi police has arrested three persons - a couple and their daughter - from Prashant Vihar, in connection with a kitty party fraud estimated to be worth at least 50 crore rupees. Thousands of people have allegedly been duped. Many of them have said they are unhappy with the investigations by the local police. These victims want the matter to be handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi police, a demand which the local police don’t agree to.

Capable enough!
BS Jaiswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), outer Delhi, said the three accused have been arrested and cops are probing the matter on instructions of senior officials. "If the local police have leads and evidence, why the case should be passed on to EoW?" said Delhi police Spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.

A senior police official said that the accused were identified as Annu Bajaj, her husband Shankar Bajaj and their daughter Neha. The officer said that Annu, the prime accused, lived at Hill Apartment in Prashant Vihar area. She ran a boutique from her flat called Astha. She used to organise kitty parties through which she duped thousands men and women.

Modus operandi
"Each kitty used to consist of around 200 members. Annu would charge about Rs. 1000 from each person. She would hand over a cheque to the lucky draw winner that would bounce. Meanwhile, the accused would flee from the area, selling off their property. Police have received around a hundred complaints; many more haven’t come forward so far," said a police source.

Two FIRs against Annu, her daughter and husband has been registered at Prashant Vihar police station.

Annu Bajaj even duped three of her domestic helps. She also cheated many of her friends and a few relatives. She took clothes on loan from some business partners for her boutique and did not repay them and instead forced them to play the kitty in which she robbed them of their money, said the source.

According to police sources, Annu was running around 25 groups. She used to give commission to people bringing in new members. She would organise tambola games each month in which she would use the money collected from the kitty. She also used to organise foreign tours for members to convince them.

Tip of the iceberg!
Sonia Bansal, a resident of Hill Apartment, said that most of the victims are not willing to come out for various reasons. She said they don’t have faith in the local police and want the EoW to intervene.

Vijay Sharma, another victim, echoed this sentiment and said he has been cheated of several lakh rupees and wants EoW to probe the matter.

"Asha Aggarwal, a local resident has been cheated, to the tune of Rs. 1 crore by Annu Bajaj.  She duped her domestic helps Mamta, Rama Devi and Kaushal of Rs. 50,000 each. About a thousand people have been conned by the Bajajs," said Uma Sood, one of the victims.

The Concept
Members of each kitty contribute a pre-decided amount of money every month for a given period of time.

A lucky draw is held every month, and all the money is handed over to the winner.

That person will not eligible for a draw for the remaining period, but will have to keep contributing money every month.