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Moneylender arrested for harassing borrowers in Kaimur
Kaimur police arrested a moneylender for harassing borrowers with high interest rates, recovering documents, cash, and silver during the raid.
Kaimur police arrested a moneylender for allegedly harassing borrowers by charging exorbitant interest rates. A large number of usury-related documents, silver and cash were also recovered from his possession.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Hari Mohan Shukla said one of the victims, Santosh Tiwari alias Pankaj Tiwari, a resident of Kudra, submitted a complaint at the Kudra police station on December 22, alleging that he had borrowed ₹1.5 lakh from Laxman Sah of Kudra for his sister’s wedding in 2022. The accused had obtained a blank cheque from him as security. The victim had already repaid ₹56,000.
The SP said that on November 27, when the victim paid the remaining ₹94,000 and demanded the return of the cheque, the accused allegedly demanded ₹5.27 lakh, claiming it included five times the interest, and refused to return the cheque. When the victim protested, Sah allegedly abused and assaulted him, and also forced him to sign a blank paper stating that ₹5.27 lakh was outstanding. Thereafter, he allegedly started pressuring the victim to repay the amount.
Following the complaint, Kudra police registered a case and informed the SP, who constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under the leadership of Mohania Sub-Divisional Police Officer Pradeep Kumar for prompt action.
The SIT raided the house of the accused on Tuesday and recovered 39 interest-related documents, 245 blank cheques, 65 blank stamp papers, 11 bank passbooks, three diaries containing details of 97 borrowers, 1.764 kg of silver, and ₹1.7 lakh in cash. The accused Laxman Sah was arrested.
The SP said a case has been registered against the accused for cheating, extortion, wrongful confinement and assault under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, and provisions of the Usury Act will also be added. Further investigation is underway, with police contacting borrowers whose names appear in the seized diaries.
