A Mizoram man seeking the satisfaction of helping others has cleared the loans of four strangers who were struggling to repay because of the COVID-19 lockdown.
The man, said to have undergone the “pangs of bankruptcy once upon a time”, wanted no publicity for transferring a total of ₹9,96,365 to State Bank of India’s Aizawl branch for closing the loan accounts of the beneficiaries.
“He is known to me and a few other officers in our branch. He came a few days ago and told us to select a few genuine loanees who had mortgaged their property for any business to be self-reliant. He said he wanted to help such people for satisfaction and had a budget of ₹10 lakh,” Sheryl Vanchhong, the branch’s Assistant General Manager told The Hindu on Friday.
“We selected four persons who wanted to repay their loans but were unable to because the lockdown that did not allow them to pursue their petty trades. The man transferred the money online and we called them on May 13 and handed over all their mortgaged land documents,” she said.
The man was called to meet the four loanees, including three women, but he declined and said his benevolence was not worth any publicity, not even for the consumption of members of his family.
The bank had withheld the identity of the four beneficiaries, too. But one of them, Muana L. Fanai, who had started poultry farming with the loan he had taken, took to social media to thank the unknown “guardian angel” .
“I suffered a series of setbacks, which worsened after the novel coronavirus outbreak. This mysterious man cleared my outstanding amount of ₹2,46,631,” Mr. Fanai wrote.