Personal loan apps under Crime Branch scanner, DGP urges caution

Loan trap

Thiruvananthapuram: The latest menace online has come in the form of apps that enable one to get instant cash loan. Though easy access to timely credit is a boon, a slew of recent suicides by young men in some parts of the country are blamed on loan sharks who pestered loanees who had fallen into a debt trap after securing easy finance by way of mobile applications. After similar deaths were reported in Kerala, the state police chief Loknath Behera announced that the Crime Branch would probe the operations of gangs committing frauds by offering loans through such apps.

The police chief also requested the public to refrain from taking such loans.

The hi-tech crime enquiry cell would assist the police in the investigation. The probe would be held with the assistance of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh police, along with the Interpol and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as even foreign nationals are suspected to be in the gang.

The police decided to initiate the probe after some people who took loans by making use of mobile apps killed themselves as they were unable to pay back the money. The loans reported had high interest rates and the loanees failed to repay fully even after taking more loans to pay back.

Thiruvananthapuram youth's suicide

The mobile loan apps too allegedly had a role in the suicide of a youth, who had reportedly fallen into a debt trap after playing online rummy. Vineeth, who was found dead on December 31, had a debt of Rs 12 lakh.

A native of Kuttichal in Thiruvananthapuram, Vineeth was a contract employee associated with the ISRO.

Vineeth first borrowed money from his friends but when this proved to be insufficient, he took loans from mobile apps at high interest rates. However, he was unable to repay the money.

Vineeth was under severe stress of late as the app companies had started sending his photo along with messages to his friends and colleagues at the ISRO. Before he took the extreme step, Vineeth reportedly told his friends that he had been cornered.

Vineeth's brother Vineesh said, "After seeing the messages sent by the app companies, several people started asking me. That's when I came to know that he had taken loans from several apps. People associated with the apps then started coming home. They threatened that the time period sought by Vineeth was over and that they would take action if the money was not repaid. To avoid any trouble in future, some money was also given."

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