Central Crime Branch book couple for charging high interest in Bengaluru

Samreen added that since November 2023, Rs 15,000 was paid to Shashindra online every month. By May 24, 2024, a total of Rs 1.86 lakh had been paid as interest.

Police said the case was registered based on a complaint filed by Gangadhar, the cooperative deputy registrar, against Shashindra and Ashok. (Express Illustrations)

BENGALURU: Central Crime Branch (CCB) police registered a case against a couple for allegedly harassing a woman for payment of additional interest, despite having already collected Rs 3.80 lakh as interest on a loan of Rs 1.60 lakh.

According to the FIR, Samreen, a resident of KM Colony, Jayanagar, had taken a loan of Rs 1.60 lakh from Shashindra and her husband Ashok in July 2021, at an interest rate of 5 per cent per month, for her sister’s wedding. She secured the loan with the help of her relative, Mohammad Rafiq. At the time of borrowing, both Samreen and Rafiq had given one blank cheque each to Shashindra as security.

Over the next one-and-half years, Samreen paid Rs 8,000 per month as interest, totalling approximately Rs 1.44 lakh. However, she later struggled to make timely interest payments. When there were delays, Shashindra allegedly called Samreen and verbally abused her.

Samreen visited Shashindra’s house multiple times, requesting to repay only the principal amount as she could no longer afford the high interest. However, she refused to waive the interest. Eventually, Samreen agreed to pay Rs 10,000 towards the principal and Rs 5,000 as interest every month, totalling Rs 15,000, as mentioned in the complaint.

She added that since November 2023, Rs 15,000 was paid to Shashindra online every month. By May 24, 2024, a total of Rs 1.86 lakh had been paid as interest. Meanwhile, Shashindra also took Rs 50,000 in cash from Samreen, claiming it was for tax payments. In total, Rs 3.80 lakh was collected as interest on the Rs 1.60 lakh loan.

Police said the case was registered based on a complaint filed by Gangadhar, the cooperative deputy registrar, against Shashindra and Ashok. The couple was allegedly involved in illegal high-interest money lending for several years.

They would take security documents while issuing loans and misuse blank cheques. The complainant accused the couple of operating without any legal permission, police added. A case was booked under the Karnataka Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act.