More than 50 members of the YSR Congress, including Opposition leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, were on Friday suspended from the Andhra Pradesh assembly after they staged a protest to press for a debate on the ‘call money’ racket, stalling proceedings in the House.
While most Opposition members were suspended till the conclusion of the ongoing debate on the Constitution — with some being physically evicted by marshals after they refused to leave, legislator Roja was suspended for one year for “unparliamentary behaviour” in the House.
Nineteen people have so far been arrested in connection with the racket and over Rs 23 lakh in cash seized from them, the police said on Friday.
With police continuing its drive against private moneylenders in the wake of the call money racket, more and more victims are coming forward to lodge complaints.
In Vijayawada alone, where the racket came to light last week, more than 200 victims have come forward with their complaints so far. The racket itself has claimed five lives. While a family of four committed suicide by jumping into a lake in Chittoor, the home district of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, a woman in Kadapa died in hospital after she was evicted from her house by the moneylender.
Meanwhile, unable to bear the sexual harassment by a moneylender, a woman attempted suicide in Kadapa district on Friday, while another widow tried to kill herself by consuming sleeping pills.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, unable to bear the sexual harassment by a moneylender, a woman attempted suicide in Kadapa district on Friday, while another widow tried to kill herself by consuming sleeping pills.
{{/usCountry}}The woman, whose husband died three years ago in a road accident, had taken a loan of `65,000 from a financier. She had repaid `46,000 but he kept harassing her for the remaining amount. The moneylender had told her that if she stays with him, there was no need to repay the loan.
In Tirupati, a woman has alleged that a police constable began harassing her and ultimately forced her to leave town after she failed to repay her loan. A senior police official has however said the woman need not pay back the loan.