Moneylenders take people for a ride in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: The illegal practice of call money lending in Vijayawada is continuing to take its toll on borrowers who mostly end up paying high interest of more than 30 per cent.

The menace of self-styled financiers came to the fore once again with the incident of one Satyavani whose son and daughter were allegedly abducted by a finance group called Seven Sisters based in Rajarajeswaripet in the  city. On Thursday, the woman approached city commissioner of police and complained that her 22-year-old daughter was kidnapped and is forced into flesh trade.

She was directed by the officials to lodge a complaint immediately with Ajith Singh Nagar police station but she did not turn up till Friday evening. The woman allegedly borrowed nearly Rs 20,000 at 30 per cent interest rate from the Seven Sisters group run by three women and failed to repay.

In a bid to make her pay the amount, the group allegedly abducted her 22-year-old estranged daughter and moved to Anakapalle of Visakhapatnam district.

“We somehow managed to identify the woman and will take a complaint from her. After meeting the police commissioner she did not come to the police station but visited a news channel office. We did not receive any complaint against the Seven Sisters group so far and will investigate accordingly,” said Ajith Sing Nagar inspector Pawan Kishore. Very few of the call money harassment cases come to light and respective local politicians back the moneylenders. Most of the call money business is done on day-to-day basis where borrowers by hook or crook have to repay the amount along with interest by the evening.