UP nexus drags Chennai doctor into loan shark hell

 

In Indian history loan sharks have been a scary chapter and stories of them have often grabbed headlines. Unbelievable interest rates, harassment and threats, court cases are some of the aspects of borrowing loan from these lenders that have caused much distress to borrowers and highlighted the extent of the menace. 

 

In a recent case, a Chennai doctor Dr M Sudheer, a senior professor at Madras Medical College, has been a victim of a loan shark that has many murky angles ultimately leading to his arrest by Lucknow police. 

 

The doctor unable to furnish collaterals for a loan for the higher education of his son and so he decided to approach a loan shark Kamaraj for ₹20 lakh. The interest rate of this loan was decided on 5 percent per month. 

 

The money lender Kamaraj, is a ‘Kanduvatti’-karan meaning he is one of the lenders giving loans at a massive rate of interest violating the Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003. Kanduvatti is a street in Tamil Nadu known as the hub of loan lenders who are called Kanduvatti karans. According to a report, Kamaraj has confessed to police that he is one of the Kanduvatti karans. 

 

Dr Sudheer took the loan in 2011, and in next two years, he paid ₹48 lakh and yet, he was not done repaying the loan. During this two years period, the doctor paid ₹1 lakh as interest for the loan every month for 48 months. Then between 2014 and 2016, Dr Sudheer was paying ₹1,20,000 for the principal amount and ₹80,000 as interest every month. 

 

Till mid-2016, the borrower made timely payments but once he started delaying the payment in May Kamaraj threatened him and his family. The doctor then went to police and also filed a criminal complaint. This action of Dr Sudheer enraged the lender who then initiated a series of action ending in the doctor’s arrest by the Lucknow police. 

 

Kamaraj in his confession to police stated that Dr Sudheer’s complaint led to a summon against him by Teynampet police and since in 2014, Central crime branch registered a case against him, the fresh complaint led to more complication for him. So he decided to take implicate Dr Sudheer.

 

While giving the loan, Kamaraj as security took 4 promissory notes, 6 blank cheques, and 2 blank green sheets from the doctor. He then wrote 2 ₹15 lakh cheques out of the 6 Axis Bank blank cheques and also wrote a promissory note for ₹30 lakh as Dr Sudheer. Also, he sent a legal notice to the doctor via this advocate on June 2016. 

 

Kamaraj then sent these important documents to a gang of thugs in Lucknow, UP, who are politically well-connected. The members of the gang further manipulated the documents and filed a case against Dr Sudheer in Aliganj police station. They also prepared fake acknowledgement by Dr Sudheer to show that he received ₹1 crore from one Sarfaraz Ahamed for giving permission for a medical college. 

 

After this, UP police came to Chennai with a warrant against the doctor, produced him at the Saidapet Magistrate court that gave the permission for the transit remand and now Dr Sudheer is in Lucknow for non-payment of a loan for a massive amount of money.

 

In protest of this incident, the Chennai doctors went on a massive agitation in Chennai and doctors who ate pursuing post-graduation have refused to work. After much protest and SSP Lucknow’s intervention, a special CBI court granted the bail of Dr Sudheer. Also, FIR has been filed against Kamaraj and his associated under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act.

 

While on reading you may find the incident confusing, the truth of the matter is that such incidents are what warn others to be more careful when it comes to money matters. In this case, the well-placed goonda connections of Kamraj helped him to cheat the Chennai doctor for so long and using intimidation and crooked practiced he has now put the doctor in a spot.