Loan apps case: Cops don’t help, what do we do, ask victims

The threat of rogue recovery agents of instant loan apps is alarmingly high across India and Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states where borrowers have been driven to take their own lives Yet police are reluctant to register an FIR despite the home ministerrsquos clear instructions to do soThe harassment including circulating morphed photos of the victims amounts to criminal offence but police either file a noncognisable NC offence or dissuade the victims from filing a complaint Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey directed the police station to file FIRs after a midday correspondent raised the issue during a meeting with him on June 1 eveningAfter a series of reports on the issues midday received a flood of messages on social media from the victims asking for a solution as their local police have refused to file an FIR A 33yearold SEO manager in digital marketing residing in Santacruz East approached Vakola police station to file a complaint but instead of filing an FIR police registered an NC offence on May 30ldquoI took money from four loan apps and the recovery agents started to harass me before the deadline for repayment They have started circulating my photo among my contacts with an abusive message about the women at home ldquoIt was a clear threat But when I went to Vakola police station the officer on duty said lsquoif you have taken out a loan repay themrsquo I told the officer that I was ready to repay but itrsquos not the way to recover the loan I went to the police station for action not preachingrdquo he saidldquoWhen I insisted him to register an FIR the officer said lsquojo sahi dhara lagegi laga dengersquo He handed me a piece of paper which others later told me was an NCrdquo he added A 27yearold student from Byculla fears the loan recovery agents would knock on their doors now and her uncle with whom she lives will throw her out ldquoI had only downloaded a mobile app which I deleted immediately I did not even apply for a loan but the recovery agents have been harassing me I am using another mobile number nowrdquo she saidldquoI went to the Byculla police station with a written complaint but the police did not register an FIR They only stamped my complaint What will I do if the recovery agents come knocking on my door I am a student and if my local guardian comes to know about this mess I will be in big troublerdquo she added A 25yearold delivery executive from Nagpada had borrowed from one of the loan apps and after being chased by recovery agents he approached the local policeldquoNagpada police told me to post a message on Facebook and WhatsApp saying lsquoif you get any message with my photo from an unknown number please donrsquot pay attention to itrsquo When I asked them lsquoif this was a solutionrsquo they said lsquothe recovery agents are based in different states and it is not possible to catch themrsquo They said if I stop responding to the calls recovery agents would stop harassing me after a month or sordquoA 42yearold PR professional approached Nalasopara police station on May 27 but police did not register an FIR but promised to help ldquoWhen I was at the police station a loan recovery agent called me A police officer answered the call as me and the caller hailed abuses After disconnecting the call the officer told me that the accused will be arrested But I donrsquot know how as an FIR has not been registered They have only stamped my complaint letter and handed me over the receiptrdquo he said He had taken the loan for his motherrsquos medical expensesA 33yearold banker cannot face her husband and her inlaws at home and does not meet her friends anymore as the recovery agents circulated her morphed photos among her contacts on WhatsApp ldquoI approached Khadakpada police station in the first week of May but the police did nothing The officers suggested that I approach Mahatma Phule Chowk police station I went there but they did not file an FIRrdquoShe had borrowed money from three apps owing to a financial crisis ldquoI made a huge blunder I am scared for my two children whose photos were stored in the phone I donrsquot know what to do now I have uninstalled WhatsApp and am missing important official announcements made every night to plan for the next dayrdquo the banker saidAnother banker 35 has repaid Rs 7 lakh way more than what he borrowed last year ldquoI had taken a loan of Rs 15 lakh from different apps But their rate of interest was so high that I ended up paying Rs 7 lakhrdquo ldquoI had to sell my wifersquos jewellery to repay them Yet I am getting calls from the recovery agents I visited the Cyber Cell in Thane for an FIR but the police did nothingrdquo he said