COIMBATORE: As part of ‘Operation Kandhu Vatti 2.0’, Coimbatore District (Rural) Police conducted raids at 41 properties of people who are allegedly involved in usury, and seized around Rs 1.26 crore.
Superintendent of Police V Badri Narayanan told TNIE that the raids were based on complaints from public as well as intelligence input.
A total of 19 people lending money for exorbitant interest were found and legal proceedings are being carried out under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, he said.
“The interest rate for the money lenders has now been fixed as 18 % per annum. But the suspects violated the permissible limit and allegedly collected at least 10% per week. We have seized documents to prove their violations. People who have been facing such issues should lodge complaints with their respective police limits,” Badri Narayanan added.
According to sources, the task was planned on Wednesday night and the police personnel at the station got information on Thursday morning. As many as 80 police personnel, 20 inspectors and six DSPs were pressed into the raid and it lasted for around seven hours.
In this check, police teams seized Rs 1.26 crore in cash. Along with it, 379 land documents, 79 promissory notes (pro notes), 127 cheque leaves, 48 ATM debit cards, 18 Bank passbooks, 54 signed blank papers, 211 vehicle registration certificates, 35 financial ledgers, 230 manual financial ledgers, 75 blank promissory notes, 7 Aadhaar cards and three passports were also seized from the belongings of the alleged money lenders, the sources added.
Based on the raid, police registered cases against 19 people and arrested 18 among them. Police are on the lookout for the one who is absconding, said sources. In 2003, after a series of suicides linked to usurious debt, the state government enacted the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act to safeguard borrowers from harassment by money lenders.
The act along with the Moneylenders Act which prohibits the charging of interest above the permissible limit of interest was meant to put an end to usurious lending. The district police have booked 21 cases this year so far.