Two businessmen arrested for firing at Mumbai builder for failing to repay loan taken from duo

Bandra police on Sunday arrested two businessmen for allegedly threatening and firing at a 59-year-old builder, who failed to return the money he had borrowed from them.

The accused, identified as Farhan Sayyed, 30, and Faiyaz Qureshi, 33, had given the builder, Nasir Shaikh, a loan of Rs45 lakh at 10% interest before the lockdown was imposed in March. Owing to the lockdown, Shaikh was unable to return them the money at the promised time. The complainant told the police that he had sought time to return their money, as he was facing cash crunch owing to the lockdown.

On Saturday around 6pm, the two accused asked the builder to meet them at Chapel Road in Bandra (West) and threatened him. The accused, who were carrying firearms, opened fire at the builder to threaten him, said the police. He did not suffer any injuries in the incident.

“We recovered two empty cartridges from the spot. After their arrest, the accused claimed that their intention was to threaten the builder and not to kill him,” said an officer from Bandra police station.

Shaikh, who filed a complaint against the two businessmen, told the police that he knew the duo for many years. During the demonetisation in 2016, Qureshi had introduced Sayyed to the builder. Shaikh had helped Sayyed exchange his old currency with the new ones.

Following Shaikh’s complaint, Bandra police registered a case under sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act.