Maharashtra: Three held for harassing people over loan recovery in Thane

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Three persons have been arrested for allegedly harassing people on the pretext of debt collection in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Tuesday, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, earlier this month, the police received a complaint about abusive and obscene phone calls from debt collectors, an official said.

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Following a probe, the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Thane crime branch arrested Rahul Kumar Tilakdhari Dubey (33), a representative of a telecom company, who allegedly issued SIM cards under customers' names without their knowledge, provided information to a loan recovery call centre, deputy commissioner of police crime, Shivraj Patil said, as per the PTI.

The police also raided a call centre in Bhayandar and arrested Shubham Kalicharan Ojha (29) and Amit Mangala Pathak (33), he said, the news agency reported on Tuesday.

The duo reportedly had agreements with several financial institutions, the official said.

The police have seized electronic equipment, including hard disks, a GSM gateway, and mobile phones, he said.

The three accused were remanded to police custody till July 10, the official said.

Thane City Police Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre urged citizens to report harassment or abusive language from loan recovery agents to their local police station.

FDA inspector among 2 held for bribery in Thane

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a 42-year-old FDA inspector and another person for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 70,000 from a man who wanted to start a medical shop in Maharashtra's Thane district, the ACB said on Tuesday, reported the PTI.

The man had applied for a license with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to open a medical shop.

A drugs inspector with the FDA allegedly demanded Rs 1 lakh from him, besides the license fee. Later, the demand was brought down to Rs 70,000, Navi Mumbai ACB police inspector Santosh Patil said in a release, as per the PTI.

The man lodged a complaint with the ACB which laid a trap on Monday night near a grocery store in Kalyan town and caught a 50-year-old person accepting Rs 70,000 from the complainant, he said.

The ACB officials later also caught the drugs inspector who was with him, he said.

An FIR was registered against the two accused at the MFC police station in Kalyan under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ACB said.

(with PTI inputs)