December 12, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 1, 1428

SIALKOT, Dec 11: Hundreds of Double Shah investment scam victims in Sialkot, Sambrial, Daska, Wazirabad and surrounding areas are telling the election candidates approaching them to first ensure early return of their amounts if they wanted to get their votes.

The situation is more awkward for the PML-Q candidates as the party was in power when the scam surfaced about eight months ago.

Many of the candidates are reportedly assuring the victims they would do all out efforts to get back their money once they got elected. But, such assurances find few subscribers as the victims, many of them facing serious financial crunch, feel no concrete steps were being taken to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, PML-Q’s candidates in Gujrat, Wazirabad and Sambrial have also been facing strong criticism by the scam victims ahead of fast-approaching general elections.

The Double Shah Victims Association Daska President Sheikh Asghar Shahid thinks the elections are the ripe time to press for their demand as it is the only time when influential people seem more than willing to at least heed the commoners’ pleadings.

The rival candidates are also using the opportunity to indulge in mudslinging against the PML-Q hopefuls and also to gain sympathies of the scam victims, hoping it would benefit them at the polls.

Anti-PML candidates allege during their election meeting that the Gujrat, Wazirabad and Sambrial based politicians belonging to the former ruling party have been involved in the scam.

The situation can seriously dent PML-Q position in Wazirabad and in NA-112, Sambrial, as most of the scam victims belong to these two tehsils.

Syed Sibtul Hassan Shah alias Double Shah of Wazirabad is accused of depriving people of billions of rupees in an investment scam through his agents.

Some Sambrial-based female victims of the scam told Dawn, requesting anonymity, that the local politicians had disappointed them during the past several months by making false promises. They alleged the former MPAs and MNAs used the scam for political gains, deploring they took no practical steps to ensure return of their hard-earned money.

GUJRANWALA: Those depositing heavy amounts with Sibtul Hassan Shah alias Double Shah, expecting unrealistic returns, on Tuesday constituted an organisation to get their money back.

The scam victims decided to support those aspirants of political parties who would get them their amounts back before elections.

Reports said the decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Abdul Sattar Sulehria at Allahabad (Wazirabad).

The victims alleged many politicians of the area were patronising the accused and had got back the amounts invested by their relatives and supporters.

They urged all scam victims not to support the former legislators in the upcoming elections as they had done nothing to secure their money.