Moneylender harasses borrower, lands in jail

Erode: A moneylender was arrested on Thursday as part of ‘Operation Kanthuvatti’ (usury) for trying to extort more money from a borrower after he repaid the loan amount with interest.
The Erode North police identified the accused as M Thirunavukkarasu, 41, of Periyavalasu. A police officer said Thirunavukkarasu had lent Rs2.2 lakh to A Mohammed Sheriff, 39, from Erode town, to expand his meat shop in 2020. “Sheriff told us that he had repaid the loan amount with interest in various instalments. In total, he had paid more than Rs3 lakh to Thirunavukkarasu. When he told Thirunavukkarasu on Thursday that all the dues were settled, the latter demanded another Rs3 lakh from him, stating he had defaulted on the repayment in the past few months.”
According to the officer, the moneylender also verbally abused Sheriff and threatened him with dire consequences, if he failed to pay the amount. Sheriff lodged a complaint with the Erode North police, who registered a case against Thirunavukkarasu on Thursday and arrested him. On Friday, he was produced before a judicial magistrate court and lodged in Erode sub-jail under judicial custody.
‘Operation Kanthuvatti’ was launched based on the directions of director general of police Dr C Sylendra Babu after the suicide of a police constable, who was harassed by a moneylender, in Cuddalore. tnn