What happened in Chandi village in Amta on Sunday May 3 evening was nothing less than a chit fund scam like the Sarada. Only this time, it was not just hard-earned money of the poor villagers that went down the drain but one of their vital organs, the eyes, had also been affected. About 200 people had to undergo treatment at Amta Rural hospital for damage to cornea and conjunctiva and at least 40,000 people have been cheated in the name of a lottery. 

About a month back, agents employed by a dubious lottery company based in east Midnapore were selling lottery tickets worth Rs 100 each. The lottery was supposed to happen on the grounds of a local club Pragati Sangha in the evening of May 3. The prizes being offered were quite tempting and included cars, bikes, and even an AC bus. This lured many into buying the tickets and about Rs 40 lakh worth tickets had been sold for the lottery.    

People had started gathering on the club premises at the appointed hour of six in the evening. Expectations grew and the crowd started swelling. However, there was no sign of prizes or organisers. There was a shamiana outside the clubhouse adjacent to the national highway, where a dais had been built with a huge display board on which the lucky numbers would show up. The display was illuminated with high wattage lights and as people stared at the display board, their eyes got blinded by the light. 

“It was a ploy to blind the people so they could not watch the goings-on at the dais,” said a victim. The lottery that was supposed to start at six in the evening, eventually, started at nine at night and went on well past midnight. And all this while, crowds swelled in the shamiana and people were already complaining of the blinding light and headaches and eyes watering. “They kept watching the display board for the announcement of the results but none of that happened. Eventually, by dawn, the people were so affected by the light that many rushed to Amta Rural Hospital.

Doctors had a trying time at the hospital, treating around 200 people. “They were writhing in pain with bloodshot eyes that were watering profusely. The conjunctiva, the white portion of the eye, and the epithelial top layer of the cornea had been damaged. Opthalmologists were called in to control the situation. The affected eyes were damaged and drops given. However, most of the patients could not bear the brightness of sunlight,” said a doctor at the hospital.

Though nearly a fortnight had passed, locals were still shaken by the incident. ‘The lottery was organised on May 3. We bought one ticket of Rs 100. The organisers said there will be bus, car, motor cycles and many more prizes. But we never got a glimpse of anything. Moreover, many people’s eyes were affected due to the powerful lights. This is a new way of cheating after the Sarada scam,” said Jeevan Jeet, who runs an eatery at Chandi village. 

Abbas runs a laundry shop beside Pragati Sangha. “The club has been closed since the police came. A handful of members of the club have been arrested. Some fled the area,’ said Abbas. Another victim, who was discussing the loss he suffered in the lottery with a lady, said on condition of anonymity, “Like many others, I was also hired by the organisers as an agent to sell tickets of the lottery in exchange of commissions. I sold more than 100 tickets. Now, the buyers are asking for results. But I do not have any results to show.”

An organisation from east Midnapore held the lottery. “The programme was scheduled to start in the evening. But it started very late. Many people had gone by then. The lights were focussed on the audience so that they could not watch what was going on, on the stage.  No prizes were announced. From that night, many people started having eye problems. The next morning, the discomfiture increased. They went to hospital. Now, everyone is safe and back to normal life,’ said a pharmacy owner Sanjay Ganguly. 

Gopal Seth, Arup Das, Jayanta Dolui are among those whose eyes were affected. They all echoed the same story. “The lights were really powerful. Plus we suspect that the organisers sprayed something like chilly powder to harm our eyes. Both eyes got red and we were in a lot of pain. Now, we are all right after treatment,’ said Seth. 

Debasish Sen, a doctor at Amta Rural Hospital said, “More than 200 people came with similar symptoms in their eyes. A medical team came and took over the treatment.” Sen said the victims had been treated properly and hopefully no one would lose their eyesight.

The police swung into action on May 4. “We received complaints of cheating and also that the eyes of many had been affected. We went to the club grounds and seized a car, a few motor bikes from the club. A case of cheating under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code has been slapped on the organisers. A total of eight people have been arrested so far. Seven were nabbed on Monday and one on Wednesday. They were produced at Uluberia Court. The judge has ordered police custody of three for seven days and jail custody for the rest for 14 days,” informed the officer-in-charge (OC) of Amta Police station, Partha Sarathi Haldar. According to him, a case of cheating for Rs 40 lakh has been registered.  

The cops, probably to pacify the villagers, promised that the prizes would be handed over to the winners within a week. A chart of the winners might be there. But the victims and the villagers are not hopeful. What is ominous is that the illegal lottery would probably have gone unnoticed had the eyes not been affected.