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635 arrested, 1,026 booked in Gujarat’s crackdown against usurers
The Gujarat government launched a mega drive against unauthorised moneylenders on January 5 and the police held 1,288 public camps to hear out victims, who have been harassed by usurers
In a crackdown against unauthorised moneylenders in the state, the Gujarat police have filed 622 first information reports (FIRs) and arrested 635 persons in the last two weeks while complaints have been registered across various police stations in the state against more than a thousand persons, said a senior police official.
A mega drive against unauthorised moneylenders was launched by the state government on January 5 and the police have held 1,288 public camps to hear out victims, who have been harassed by usurers charging interest rates higher than 12-15% per annum, said the official cited above who did not want to be named.
“We have registered complaints against 1,026 persons and arrested 635. A total of 622 FIRs have been lodged across the state. The Gujarat government launched a ‘mega-drive’ against such lenders and we have so far held 1,288 ‘Lok Darbars’ to hear out victims. Through these public meetings, many citizens who were victims of such crimes, aired their grievances before the police. Based on this, police has taken strict action against usurers,” he added.
In one instance, Surat’s Nainaben Virani, had borrowed ₹8 lakh by placing her house under mortgage. The lender, who usurped her house and demanded ₹8 lakh, has now been booked.
In another case a woman from Surat had borrowed ₹5 lakh from a lender for treatment of blood cancer, against which the usurer took away her flat worth ₹15 lakh.
In Godhra town, the usurers took a blank cheque in the form of security for lending ₹2,70,000 from one Tanmaykumar Mehta and took away his Hyundai I-10 Grand car even after he paid ₹6,87,000 at the interest rate of 10% per month. The Panchmahal police booked the usurers and recovered the vehicle from them.
On the instructions of chief minister Bhupendra Patel and minister of state for home, Harsh Sanghvi, special vigilance is being maintained by the Gujarat police during the operation.
“Many poor, middle class families and especially women trapped in the cycle of illegal usury are fearlessly approaching the police department to lodge their complaints in this state government’s special drive,” the police official said.
