Woman’s suicide shows cops haven’t made dent on mobile loan sharks

Accused Shankar and Prashunjeet in the custody of police

The number of cases of Shark loan recovery agents threatening and blackmailing victims is on the rise across the country and the cops seem to have made little progress to curb this menace. The Thane Government Railway Police (GRP) recently arrested two members of a loan recovery gang from Assam, accused of extorting money by morphing victims' images with explicit content and threatening to make them viral using contact numbers of the victim and on social media.

Due to relentless mental harassment and defamation by the gang, a 34-year-old woman residing in Diva took her own life by jumping in front of a train on July 6. A suicide note was found among her belongings, and the reason was written on her hand. The morphed explicit images, sent by the accused, unveiled the motive for her suicide. The police registered a case on July 8, 2023, following a complaint from the deceased woman's father.

Prashunjeet Hajong and Shankar Hajong

As per her father's statement to the police revealed that she had taken loans from a "Toop Loan" application, paying R65,000 to settle the debt. Despite repaying the agents twice, they continued to harass her, threatening to send morphed images to her contact list.

Under the guidance of Senior Inspector Pandhari Kande and API Harish Pol, a case was registered under section 306 of the IPC. The investigative team, after scrutinising numerous UPI IDs, traced the bank account in Assam to which the victim had sent money. Two accused account holders, identified as Shankar Hajong, 29, and Prashunjeet Hajong, 33, were arrested.

According to an officer, "The duo, jobless due to the pandemic, worked as security guards in Pondicherry. Shankar came in contact with the recovery gang and provided the gang with bank accounts for fraudulent amounts. They provided account details of 8 to 9 different banks to recovery agents. Over the last two years, approximately R1.5 crore was deposited into Shankar's account, and Rs 30 to 35 lakh flowed into Prashunjit's account."

During the investigation, it was revealed that Shankar learned techniques on YouTube during COVID-19 unemployment, subsequently becoming involved with the gang on Telegram, offering commissions on recovering the loan. Initially, they received a modest amount of commission. However, as the money continued to pour in the duo devised a plan to deceive the recovery agents. Exploiting the situation, they approached the banks and claimed funds were incorrectly deposited, froze their accounts, and transferred the amounts to another account for personal use.

"In the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the woman had obtained a loan from a private finance company that had subcontracted the task of loan recovery to several agents. These recovery agents, possessing customer contact numbers, engaged in harassment, verbal abuse, blackmail, and extortion using morphed images even after the repayment of the loan," said another officer.

The duo was arrested on November 11 in Assam, brought to Mumbai on November 14 under transit remand, and produced before the Thane court. They were remanded in police custody for six days. Efforts are underway to apprehend more members of the gang.

Rs 1.5cr
Amount deposited in Shankar's account