The Namakkal District Crime Branch Police has registered a case against S. Easwaramoorthy, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rasipuram, on a complaint of usury.
Cases have also been registered against his wife Sumathi and son Ranjith.
The police have registered the case against Mr. Easwaramoorthy and his family members on the direction of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Rasipuram.
Police sources said that Baskaran of R. Pudupalayam near Rasipuram, who runs a solar power equipment manufacturing concern, had given a petition to the court and also to Ara Arularasu, Superintendent of Police. He said that he borrowed a sum of ₹3 lakh from the DSP in 2014 for his business. Later, in 2015, he again borrowed ₹10 lakh from Mr. Eawaramoorthy.
Mr. Baskaran said that he was paying ₹65,000 towards interest every month in the initial period. Due to business loss, he could not pay the interest for a few months. He alleged that he was called by Mr. Easwaramoorthy to his house, where Ms. Sumathi and Mr. Ranjith abused him for not paying the outstanding interest and even assaulted him. Later, they themselves hiked the amount borrowed to ₹30 lakh and later to ₹35 lakh and doubled the interest rate for the same. He claimed that he was forced to pay an interest of ₹3 lakh per month, which was later hiked to ₹3.50 lakh.
Now, they were threatening him to pay back ₹1.60 crore as principal amount and interest, he claimed and added that he had already paid ₹81 lakh as interest alone so far for the ₹13 lakh borrowed. He also alleged threat to his life.
The Rasipuram Judicial Magistrate Court directed the SP to inquire into the allegation of Mr. Baskaran.
Following this, the crime branch police registered cases under sections 294 (b) (uttering obscene works in public place), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (part 1) of the IPC (criminal intimidation) and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, police sources said.