Loan apps case: No help in sight, it's a lone battle for victims

Unable to bear the trauma of being labelled as a ldquorapistrdquo and ldquokillerrdquo by recovery agents of a loan app Malad man Sandeep Koregaonkar hanged himself on May 4 Daksha Boricha a talented drum artist ended her life on March 16 after rogue agents branded her family ldquochorrdquo In November 2020 Abhishek Makwana a writer for Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashma met the same fate due to a loan app whose vasooli men called him a ldquocheatrdquo While none got timely help from the cops thousands of harassed borrowers of these apps are living on the edge over police inactionSandeep Korgaonkar who hanged himself on May 4MidDay met several borrowers and the families of Koregaonkar Borcha and Makwana In all cases the victims whose morphed photos are being circulated among their acquaintances have no clue about the ways to get rid of recovery agents and their messages and calls Filing a police complaint isnrsquot easy For those who succeed the investigation moves at a snailrsquos pace midday foundlsquoHe was a helpful manrsquoA resident of Shivneri Chawl Maharashtra Nagar Malad East Sandeep Koregaonkar was the only earning member of his family His brother Dattaguru said Sandeep had got married a year ago The brother said Korgaonkar 38 had availed Rs 4000 from Quick Loan app While he paid it back the harassment by recovery agents didnrsquot stop He even gave a complaint to Kurar police on April 27 but nothing happened said DuttaguruAbhishek Makwana who killed himself over loans was a writer for Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah ChashmaldquoThey circulated a morphed image of Sandeep among his contacts saying that he had raped and killed a 12yearold girl He was a helpful person and had an excellent image in our area as well as in his office He just couldnrsquot take the trauma of being called a lsquorapistrsquo and lsquomurdererrsquordquo said Duttaguru ldquoOn May 4 Sandeep asked to get some food from outside By the time I returned he had hanged himself After his death the police registered an FIR and started an investigation Wersquove lost faith in the policerdquo said Dattaguru Artistrsquos life cut shortA talented drum artist 43yearold Daksha Boricha lived at Parmeshwar Krupa Society Rawal Nagar Bhayander East with his 75yearold mother Ratan Boricha She had won many awards and was also featured in the Limca Book of Records Ratan said her pension stopped during the lockdown and Daksharsquos income also came to a halt ldquoDaksha took Rs 25000 from Quick and Sunshine She repaid the loans but the recovery agents morphed our photos and WhatsApped them to our friends and relatives calling us lsquochorrsquordquoAwardwinning drummer Daksha Boricha died by suicide due to harassment by recovery agentsOn March 14 Holi day Daksha stepped out and never returned ldquoWe registered a missing person complaint On March 16 her body washed ashore at Gorai In her suicide note she wrote that the recovery agents who spoiled her name should be arrestedrdquo said RatanPopular show under his beltAbhishek Makwana was a writer for popular show Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashma In November 2020 he ended his life due to torture by recovery agents His family said Makwanarsquos income was badly hit during the pandemic He borrowed Rs 30000 and repaid Rs 23 lakh but was still blackmailed His brother Jenis said the recovery agents morphed his picture and portrayed him among his contacts as a ldquocheatrdquo Jenis said ldquoMy brother went to the police many times but they never took actionrdquoBrother of Sandeep Korgaonkar who died by suicide to harassment by recovery agents at his Malad home PicAtul KambleJenis said ldquoOn November 27 2020 Abhishek hanged himself The Charkop police cited his suicide note to claim that he had taken his life due to financial problems Later I checked his email and found that he had taken loans The police have registered a case but no arrests have been made yetrdquo he saidlsquoTook loan for weddingrsquoAhead of his wedding Anilkumar Rajbhar 41 sought a loan through Rupee Tiger app He was given only R6000 He replied saying he needed a bigger amount and repaid the money but abusive calls from recovery agents didnrsquot stop He went to the Parksite police station and filed a complaint on May 3 Senior PI Vinayak Mer said a probe is onlsquoThey didnrsquot even spare my kidrsquoA 34yearold man who runs a mess at Gowalia Tank area received a message with a link for a loan On clicking it he was routed to Dutta Rupee app He received Rs 8000 after sharing his personal info and bank account details While he was told to repay the money within 8 days a recovery agent demanded the money on May 10 ahead of the last day The next day the man sent Rs 10720 to the account given by the agent However calls kept coming When he stopped taking them the agent morphed his 8yearold sonrsquos photo and shared it with his contacts The Gamdevi police registered a case on May 12 While the cops refused to share any details of the investigation the complainant said there has been no progressAbhishek Makwana who died in Nov 2020lsquoThey ruined my EidrsquoOn April 23 delivery boy Sohail Mohammed Sheru Sheikh borrowed Rs 3500 and Rs 2500 from Cash market and Magic loan apps respectively The 23yearold Bandra resident was asked to repay on April 30 but he got a call on April 29 with the caller threatening to defame him if he didnrsquot pay up immediately During Eid festivities on May 3 his six neighbours and friends told him that they had received photos of him with messages that he was not repaying his loans Sohail filed a complaint at Bandra police station Inspector Sagar Nikam said there has been no significant development in the caselsquoMy salary was delayedrsquoOn April 27 Rajeshkumar Ramani 32 sought a loan from Janecoin app as his salary was going to be delayed He was given Rs 6362 On May 2 he received a link asking him to pay Rs 2002 He was then asked to pay Rs 2001 twice which he readily did Then he was again told to pay Rs 5000 However he started getting abusive messages and pictures When he contacted the recovery agent and told him that he had already paid the money still he was asked to pay Rs 5000 After that his friends also received his morphed pictures and messages Ramani filed a complaint with Kurar police on May 10 Inspector Raviraj Jadhav said ldquoWe have started the correspondence with the app officials We are trying to track down those who have done thisrdquolsquoMy ailing wife was defamedrsquoA 26yearold Vasai man download KOKO app as he needed money for his wifersquos surgery On February 1 his wifersquos account received R5800 He was given 5 days to repay but he missed the deadline due to financial constraints On March 4 he received a call from a loan recovery agent asking him to repay the loan to which he asked for more time On March 7 he received a call from his friend that he had received morphed nude pictures of his wife Worried the man paid Rs 10000 but then his mother received a morphed picture of his wife On May 9 he then filed a police complaint Vilas Chougule senior PI of Pelhar police station said ldquoThere has been no progress in the caserdquoNo loan but too many callsA 24yearold woman received a message on March 30 that she had borrowed money from Wallaby app The woman replied saying she had not taken any loan Soon she started getting messages from several loan apps demanding repayment After the callers sent abusive messages to her contacts she paid up to Rs 45 lakh through several links that she had received Her friends then received a morphed image of her with a message that she was a sex worker On April 14 she filed a complaint with the Charkop police Inspector Abhijeet Abhang said ldquoWe have traced two numbers They are from Kolkata The Charkop police and cybercops are working on thisrdquoMore cases flow inIn the past 48 hours a 28yearold software engineer filed a complaint with the Vikhroli police claiming harassment by loan recovery agents The woman had borrowed Rs 4400 from Quick Loan and Instant Loan apps Another case was registered with BKC police after a 32yearold engineer filed a complaint against unknown persons for harassment He said he had taken a loan of Rs 375 but had already paid Rs 15 lakhCops do nothingldquoIn 99 per cent of the cases even if the borrower rushes to the police station and tries to file a complaint they take a noncognizable NC complaint Those complaints that turn into FIR do not see any progress In the case of women sections of sexual harassment and defamation must be mentioned but it never happens Top cops must understand that if they donrsquot stop these apps and their agents now it will turn from bad to worse in the near futurerdquo said Nikkhhil Jethva founder Loan Consumer Association100No of complaints received by Maha Cyber Cell daily