Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Police have registered a case against officials and employees of four financial institutions for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 26-year-old farmer from Latur district, bringing fresh scrutiny on aggressive loan recovery practices and harassment linked to microfinance and digital lending.
Dattatraya Kumbhar, a resident of Rani Ankulega village in Shirur Anantpal taluka, died by suicide at his home on Oct 26. Based on a complaint filed by his wife, Savita Kumbhar, Shirur Anantpal police registered a case under section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Family members told police that the recovery calls continued even after his death, with callers allegedly demanding money despite being informed that he had died. Latur additional superintendent of police Mangesh Chavan said police were identifying the employees who contacted Kumbhar before and after his death and examining the role of officials linked to the four financial institutions. Police said the probe will focus on the nature of the alleged recovery pressure, the frequency of the calls and the responsibility of those involved. Latur superintendent of police Amol Tambe said vulnerable borrowers often become easy targets. We have been told that the recovery agents go to unbelievable extents, even when there is a single delay in paying the instalments. We have appealed citizens to come forward and lodge a complaint against any such harassment by private moneylenders and such micro finance companies and applications,” Tambe said.
The FIR alleges that Kumbhar was subjected to repeated calls and mental harassment over loan repayments. “Gullible people in desperate need of loans end up falling prey to the traps of private moneylenders, micro finance companies including the online applications that charge hefty interest rates.
An officer from the Economic Offences Wing said investigators were hearing similar complaints from borrowers caught in loan recovery disputes. “The experiences being narrated by the victims of such loan traps have raised concerns about transparency in digital lending, the accuracy of loan closure records and the methods used by recovery agents,” the officer said. Kumbhar is survived by his elderly mother, wife and two young children. The family was already reeling under drought, crop losses and mounting debt when the alleged harassment occurred.