09 February,2010 08:47 AM IST | | Anshuman G Dutta
Man who owes Kotak Mahindra Rs 44 lakh moves court to get an FIR registered against the chairman and board of the company
What if you lay a trap and get fixed in it?
Well, the company, Kotak Mahindra, that offered a car loan of Rs 44 lakh to a Delhi-based businessman proved to be a costly affair as a city court has asked the police to investigate the matter of recovering the loan by agents, and if necessary, arrest the chairmanu00a0-- Uday Kotak.u00a0u00a0
The loan was offered by Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd to Ajay Loharuwala but allegedly within three months, the goons hired by the bank started to threaten Loharuwala and his son of dire consequences. "My client Piyush Loharuwala's father Ajay Loharuwala had taken a car loan from Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd. But soon they started getting threat calls from people hired by the company," said Vijay Agarwal, counsel for Loharuwala.
Loharuwala had taken theu00a0 loan through seven different agreements for buying cars. After filing the complaint with anti-extortion cell, crime branch, Delhi, things went for the Loharuwalas for a while. They stopped getting threat calls. But, soon the situation hit the rough weather when some dispute over the transaction played up. Allegedly distressed with constant extortion calls, Loharuwala, lodged a case in a Rajasthan court. But as soon as the loan company got to know about the court case in Rajasthan, all hell broke loose. Piyush started receiving calls from people who claimed to company's representatives and mentioned their address as Kotak Mahindra's head office in Connaught Place.
On a single day, Piyush received calls from three different people who threatened to kill him and his family members. One of the callers even asked him to withdraw all the court cases or else his father would be killed. "Despite having anti-extortion cell in the Capital no complaint was entertained against the big bank, which had offered the loan. We had no other choice but to go for legal action," said Agarwal.
Following the police inaction, Loharuwala submitted the complaint before the metropolitan magistrate, Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler. The complaint mentions the name of Uday Kotak, Chairman, Kotak Mahindra, along with two directors C Jayaram and Dipak Gupta. The court on January 27 directed the SHO RK Puram to investigate the matter and take appropriate action. While making the order clear, the court said, "It's been gathered that there is sufficient material for the arrest of the accused person."
