Swapnalok Complex fire: Victims had shelled out lakhs to join company accused of fraud

HYDERABAD 

Families of the six persons who died of suffocation in the Swapnalok Complex fire have claimed that they put ₹1.5-2 lakh each into a multi-level marketing scheme run by Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt. Ltd., which operates from the gutted building.

The six victims were identified as V. Shiva, Triveni, R.Vennela, K. Prameela, B. Shravani (all 22), and Prashant, 23. On Friday afternoon, their bodies were handed over to their families after a post-mortem examination at Gandhi Hospital, for performing final rites. 

All of them were employed at Vihaan Direct Selling, located opposite Kedia Infotech, the office where the fire originated. The bereaved families said the company officials had asked them not to trust the negative reports about the QNet scheme or Vihaan, and convinced them to pay lakhs of rupees to enrol for the company’s pyramid scheme and get more people to join to be able to earn ‘points’.

Relatives of Shravani said the company used to make the employees work till 8.30 p.m. or beyond. “She was the eldest of three children and belonged to a poor, agricultural family in Narsampet, Warangal. Her parents struggled to pay ₹2 lakh to the company to get her a job, assuming that her future will be secure. She was working as team lead for more than a year and though the company did not pay her whatever was promised, we were happy that she was employed in the city. We never thought we would lose her like this,” said an inconsolable family member.

Prameela was an only child and her parents had paid more than ₹2 lakh after the company promised “security” for the “next three generations”. Prashanth’s uncle, who hails from Mahbubabad, said he was disqualified in the Indian Army recruitments and joined Vihaan by paying about ₹2 lakh. 

Triveni’s father, a farmer by profession, paid ₹3lakh for two of his daughters. Her sister, Mamata, had left office early on that fateful evening and therefore, survived the mishap.

“We were asked to promote their brand and enrol others to earn points as incentives. We were told by the CEO, Shiva, that the parent company is based in Malaysia and is led by Vijay Eswaran,” said Ms.Mamata.