4 money lenders arrested in triple suicide case in Hyd

Hyderabad police have arrested four illegal money lenders, as harassment by them for repayment of loans drove three members of a family to suicide last month.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Secunderabad Zone, Rakshitha Krishna Murthy, on Monday announced the arrests.

Kadgekar Ramraj, 54, his wife Madhavi, and younger brother Kadgekar Shashank Raj were found dead at their residence in Bapu Nagar, Amberpet, on February 24.

Amberpet police had registered a case and took up an investigation. Suicide notes were recovered from the scene in which the deceased mentioned the illegal demands and harassment by illegal financiers.

According to the DCP, the suicide letters and statements of family members and witnesses revealed that the deceased were facing severe financial harassment from certain money lenders from whom they had taken a loan of Rs 57 lakh for running "King’s Biryani" hotels at Mallapur and Chakripuram.

The accused were collecting high interest on a daily basis. They were demanding excessive and illegal interest and had forcibly obtained blank cheques, promissory notes, MOUs, and original land documents. The accused had repeatedly threatened and humiliated the deceased over the phone. They had also threatened to visit their house and insult them publicly

Call data records confirmed that on the intervening night of February 23 and 24, the accused contacted the family and threatened them with dire consequences, with a demand for repayment of loan amounts.

Based on the evidence collected during the investigation, the section of law was altered to Section 108 of BNS (Abetment to Suicide).

On March 2, the accused were arrested. They have been identified as Mohd Wasi Uz Zaman alias Irfan, who has a real estate and scrap business, P. Rajasekhara Reddy, who is into construction work, Mohd. Nawaz, a businessman, and Syed Majeed Hyder, an electrician.

During interrogation, the accused admitted to lending money at high interest rates and pressuring the deceased's family members for repayment. They also confessed to forcibly collecting blank cheques, promissory notes, and property documents as collateral security.

The continuous harassment, unlawful financial pressure, threats, and humiliation caused severe mental trauma to the deceased family members, which led them to commit suicide, the DCP said.