Warangal: Owners of several chit fund companies are playing not only with lives of their thousands of customers but also agents, who work hard and rope in people to join the chits run by these organisations in the erstwhile Warangal district.
There are more than a hundred major and minor chit fund companies operating with Warangal as headquarters. Among them are 10 major entities, Bhavata Sri, Shubha Nandini, Achala, Kanakadurga and Akshara, which are also into real estate business using money deposited by their customers.
The companies run various types of chits, daily to monthly and also collect deposits from customers by appointing agents. People in thousands save money by joining various chits, whether for their daughter’s wedding or constructing their house.
But many chit fund companies, instead of giving money to their customers on maturity, are making them go round their offices, or are issuing post-dated cheques. Some companies are forcing their customers to purchase plots in their real estate ventures.
After receiving several complaints from customers against chit fund companies, the previous commissioner of police A.V. Ranganath took the initiative and held a meeting with chairmen of various chit fund companies. He warned then against frauds.
But matters have not improved for customers during the past few months. A few days ago in Hanamkonda, a 40-years-old general manager of Kanakadurga Chit Fund, Nalla Bhaskar Reddy, committed suicide after writing a suicide note against his company chairman R. Tirupati Reddy and vice-chairman Prabhakar Reddy. He alleged they harassed him by not returning money to customers, who had deposited amounts believing in the integrity of the manager.
A couple who bid for their chit amount with Shubha Nandini Chit Fund tried to end their lives by pouring kerosene over themselves in front of the company’s main office, as the bid amount had not been paid to them for several months.
In another incident at Hanamkonda Chowrasta in 2021, an Achala Chit Fund agent poured kerosene and set afire a customer Pittala Raju for demanding money he had deposited. In the incident, Raju died while his wife suffered injuries.
Victims of chit fund companies allege that even after they have lodged several complaints against the chit fund companies, police officials are now showing interest in carrying out investigations despite registering cases. This is because many chit fund companies have the backing of political leaders.
Victims hope the newly formed government will keep a tab on chit fund companies and do justice to them.
