Four accused of loan sharking in Jetpur

Rajkot: A 30-year-old man approached Jetpur City police alleging extortion and harassment by four men, who allegedly lent him money at exorbitant interest rates and threatened him for payment. Vaibhav Chauhan, who is in the colour chemical business, registered a complaint under the Gujarat Money Lenders Act. According to the FIR, Chauhan borrowed Rs 12 lakh from Punit Barmeda about two years ago at 7.5% monthly interest for his business. He furnished two cheques as security. Chauhan said he had paid more than Rs 5 lakh in interest so far. Chauhan also borrowed Rs 30 lakh from Ravi Mevani at the same rate and had repaid approximately Rs 16.3 lakh. He borrowed Rs 6.8 lakh from Mitesh Asra at 7.5%, against which he had paid Rs 1.91 lakh. He also borrowed Rs 3 lakh from Harshvardhan Padiya and had paid him Rs 10,000 as interest to date. The complainant alleged that the four accused repeatedly threatened to kill him if he failed to pay the monthly interest on time and had also threatened to assault him. Police said the preliminary investigation indicated that Chauhan was trapped in a high-interest debt trap for the past two years. Further investigation is underway to verify the allegations and determine the role of each accused. No arrests have been made so far.