ELURU: Five people were arrested for facilitating the transfer of loan repayments through their personal bank accounts on behalf of loan app organisers. Identifying the accused as Ketadi Venkatesh of Visakhapatnam, Katiki Sandeep of Hyderabad, Nagamuthu and Vigneswaran both of Madurai, and Arun of Chennai, Eluru rural police said they had facilitated the transfer of huge sums for a commission.
The arrests were made based on a complaint by Appalabhaktula Nagendra Murthy of Gudivadalanka in Eluru, police said. He had downloaded 14 loan apps on his mobile phone and borrowed `46,846. Even after repaying `3.28 lakh in 76 instalments through UPI, the agents kept harassing him for more, Eluru police chief Rahul Dev Sharma said, adding that four teams were formed to probe the complaint. Investigators found that about `48 crore were transacted through 33 bank accounts. Police later interrogated five bank account holders.
Don’t download loan apps, police caution people
They confessed that some people had contacted them via social media and offered 0.5 per cent commission for transactions made through their accounts. One among them, Venkatesh said he was working as an online food delivery executive and came to know about the loan app transactions through a friend. He handed over his bank account details to the loan app operators for a commission, and transactions worth Rs 1.63 crore were made through his account.
The second accused, Sandeep, confessed he was contacted over social media platforms. Transactions worth Rs 9,01,500 lakh were made through his account. Arun of Chennai, too, was contacted in a similar fashion, and transactions to the tune of Rs 40 lakh were made through his account.
Officer Sharma warned people against downloading loan apps. “If you fall victim, lodge a complaint with the district cyber cell police,’’ he said. For complaints, dial 100, 112, or 8332959175.