Small-scale unit owner fires at loan agent, held

PUNE: A 40-year-old small scale industry unit owner was arrested by the Pimpri Chinchwad police on Friday on the charge of attempting to kill a loan recovery agent by firing a round from an unlicensed country-made pistol in his house in Moshi on Thursday.
While the bullet missed the man, the police later seized the firearm, which he had sourced illegally from a contact four years ago.
The 30-year-old recovery agent, working for a private finance company, had been frequenting the house for some time after the unit owner had defaulted on a couple of EMIs. He has filed a complaint with the Bhosari MIDC police.
Senior inspector Rajendra Nikalje of the Bhosari MIDC police said that the SSI unit owner had taken a loan on his wife's name from the private finance firm.
"According to the complainant on Thursday evening, when he had gone to recover the loan, the woman's husband became furious. He threatened to kill the complainant and fired a round. The bullet struck the wall of his house," Nikalje said.
After they were informed, the police reached the spot and took the man into custody.
"He showed us the spot where he had thrown the firearm. We recovered it on Friday. The firearm was illegal," Nikalje said.
The man was arrested under sections 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act.