NAROWAL: A two-member women gang has started a series of robberies, preying on vulnerable working women and widows under the guise of the Ehsas Kafalat and Ehsas Lottery schemes.

The fraudsters extracts Rs10,000 per person using counterfeit forms, promising a return of Rs 60,000 from the Ehsas Kifalat fund. The affected women are from villages of the district.

These impostor women charge Rs10,000 per file for the purpose of “compiling necessary documents” offering them a Rs70,000 reward from the Ehsaas lottery programme.

In one incident, masked women approached Asia Bibi, a resident of Muhalla Khawajgan, and congratulated her on “winning Rs70,000” in the Ehsaas lottery. These disappeared after receiving a Rs10,000 advance from Asia Bibi to process her file, asking her to collect her lottery at the Bank of Punjab the next day.

Gulshan Bibi from neighbourhood Vijan Old Committee House, also lost her Rs10,000 to the gang who “charged” her for enrolling in the Ehsaas Kafalat programme. The gang promised her a Rs6,000,000 monthly amount and also got her thumbprint on the fraudulent form.

Local residents Muhammad Akram and Muhammad Rizwan Butt said these criminals have targeted over a dozen women and widows. They alleged that despite multiple complaints lodged by citizens with the local police, the culprits have continued their operations.

The affected women and the general public called upon Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar to take action against the gang.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023