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Harassed by loan shark, man attempts suicide in Vadodara

VADODARA: Barely days after city police held a lok durbar to redress complaints of people harassed by money lenders, a resident of Manjalpur tried to commit suicide due to constant bullying by loan sharks on Tuesday.

Complainant Daxesh Gandhi, who used to work for the accused Karan Patel as his collection agent, was being harassed by the latter since August last year.

Gandhi told police that he had lent Rs five lakh to one of Patel’s customers around 11 months back. The customer was later arrested in Madhya Pradesh after counterfeit currency notes were found on him. As a result, he did not return money.

Patel then started asking for money from Gandhi and asked him to pay Rs 30 lakh as the interest had started accumulating on the lent sum. On January 19 this year, Patel made Gandhi sign on stamp papers and took four blank cheques from him. Gandhi was asked to pay the money within three months. On May 20 when Patel saw Gandhi near Jetalpur Road, he took him away forcibly in his car to Varnama police station. Patel made him sign on settlement papers and asked him to pay the money within 10 days.

Gandhi alleged that Patel also called his wife on Tuesday and threatened her. On Tuesday evening Gandhi left from his house and went to a temple near Alva Naka vegetable market where he consumed poison in the temple. He went back home and started vomiting. His wife rushed him to SSG Hospital where he survived and lodged a complaint of extortion, assault and threatening against Patel at Manjalpur police station.

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