Gujarat police register 464 FIRs against moneylenders in special drive

A week after statewide crackdown on moneylenders harassing people with exorbitant interest rates, the Gujarat police have registered a record 464 FIRs against 762 people and arrested 316 of them.

The drive was undertaken after scores of incidents of people getting harassed by the loan sharks were reported from various parts of the state.

The state government in a statement said that "special mega drive was launched to free common citizens from the clutches of usurers" across the districts. It said that in order to stop the menace of loan sharks, 939 "Lok Darbars" were organised across the state in the past one week.

It said that the initiative "saved many from the vicious cycle of loan on high interest rates". The government said, "Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi have instructed the police to make sure that not a single unauthorised moneylender is spared and no innocent gets framed."

In the release, the Patel government said that four people were booked under Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act.

The release has referred to the case of one Naina Virani from Surat who borrowed Rs 8 lakh by mortgaging her house. The lender after taking custody of her house was also demanding Rs 80 lakh. The lender has been booked and the possession of house was handed back to Virani.

The drive is said to have helped many other people from various parts of the state who had lost their properties in the hands of the loan sharks.

In the past, apart from harassment at the hands of money lenders, there have been instances of people committing suicide due to fear of such lenders.