Kin kill man over repayment demands in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: A 60-year-old man, a moneylender from the Shahpur area of the city, was beaten to death by two persons, who he had loaned Rs 11 lakh to, and had been asking for his money back. The incident occurred near Satluj Society on Subhash Bridge Road in the Ranip area of the city on Sunday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Pankaj Shah, a resident of Sankali Sheri near Shahpur Darwaja, who was a moneylender and a sharebroker. Whereas the accused persons, Raju Hirachand Jain, a resident of Harbhole Society near Subhash Bridge, and his brother Popat Hirachand Jain, a resident of Jantanagar in Chandkheda, were related to Pankaj Shah, as his cousin's son had married the Jains' sister around 10 years ago.

As the Shahs and Jains have family-like relations, they used to help each other financially. Raju Jain used to borrow money from Pankaj Shah very often and taken received Rs 11 lakh from him, said Pankaj Shah's brother, Hitesh Shah, in his complaint with Ranip police.

On Sunday, Pankaj Shah had gone to meet his brother Hitesh Shah at his home in Harbhole Society in Keshavnagar near Subhash Bridge on Sunday evening, but left the house after a while, telling his brother that he had some important work. A few minutes later, one of Hitesh Shah's neighbours rushed to him and told him that Pankaj was being beaten by two men.

When Hitesh Shah rushed to the spot at Satluj Society, he saw his brother was lying unconscious and one of his friends, Dhiren Mahendra Thakkar, was pressing his chest to revive him. Later, he was rushed to the Asarwa Civil Hospital, where he was declared dead by doctors, stated the FIR of the case."Dhiren Thakkar, Pankaj Shah's friend, told me that Raju Jain came to meet Pankaj, and saying that he wanted to repay his loan, took him to Satluj Society. Once they got near the gate of Satluj Society, another man arrived and started threatening Pankaj, saying how dare he ask for money. Before Pankaj Shah could realise what was happening, the duo started beating Pankaj severely," said Hitesh Patel, in his statement to police.The duo held Pankaj Shah's hands and banged his head on the floor, after which he fell unconscious and died. Ranip police inspector J G Patel said the two accused are still on the run and they could not find CCTV footage of the incident.