Bureaucrat says he is being threatened by agents of a financial company for no fault of his

When a babu got duped

Bureaucrat says he is being threatened by agents of a financial company for no fault of his

Cases of financial fraud and criminal intimidation are, regrettably, not rare in the Capital. But the matter assumes significance when the stated victim happens to be a high-profile bureaucrat with the central government.

A Joint Director General of Foreign Trade in the Commerce Ministry was allegedly threatened and criminally intimidated by officials of a finance company to settle a case. The company had apparently applied for a loan using the victim's LIC policy along with certain forged documents.

Police sources said that the official, T K Murugan, received threats to cause death or grievous hurt allegedly from representatives of the finance company on March 16 at Jawahar Lal Nehru University. Murugan was participating in a training programme at JNU. "Murugan filed a complaint with the Vasant Vihar police station next day but the police officials registered a case against the company officials only on April 6 after a court order," sources said. A copy of the order is with MiD DAY.

Police sources further stated that Murugan had taken a loan of Rs 3.5 lakh from the finance company in July 2008 after pledging his LIC policy. He had apparently repaid the amount two months later. "But later, as alleged by Murugan in his complaint to the police, the finance company on the basis of forged documents tried to avail a loan from LIC and even tried to encash his policy. After this, Murugan filed a civil suit and got a stay to refrain the company officials from encashing the matured LIC policy. The court summoned the officials of the finance company after which they started threatening and intimidating him," sources said.

"One of the officials of the finance company, Srinivasan, even trespassed into his office and threatened him and tried to compel him to settle the matter," states the FIR, a copy of which is available with MiD DAY. "In order to implicate the victim, the accused even used an undated check issued by the victim and got it to bounce as a retaliatory measure to pressurise Murugan," the FIR says.

Sources added that Murugan had written a letter to the Delhi police commissioner on March 15 in which he had requested security cover for himself as he was receiving constant threats.

Meanwhile, the managing director of the company, M R Bhaarath refuted all the allegations and said that Murugan was making false charges and misusing his position. "He had taken a loan of Rs 3.5 lakh against his LIC policy which he repaid. Later, he took two loans of Rs 3.5 lakh and 1.5 lakh but didn't repay the money. He demanded his policy back, to which we replied that we would do so after he had returned the money.

He even said that he was a senior government official and tried to blackmail us into dropping the case. A few days ago, he came to our office to deposit Rs 2.75 lakh but our officials said that they didn't accept cash after which he abused our staff," Bhaarath alleged. He added that the company had filed a complaint against the bureaucrat with the Central Vigilance department.

RBI Guidelines

Here are certain rules you shoul be aware of if you are being harassed by recovery agents:
>>u00a0The borrower has the right to decide a place to meet and a time to be contacted by the recovery agents. He can also choose the time and place to receive calls from the agent.
>> He can ask to see the agent's ID and letter of authorization from the bank.
>> The recovery agent has to deal with the borrower with decency and proper decorum.
>> The borrower has a right to privacy and the agent should not discuss his debt situation with a third person.
>> The borrower can seek assistance to resolve the dispute regarding dues.
>> During bereavement in the family or calamity, the borrowers can tell the agent to not visit or call.
>> The borrower can complain to the RBI on non compliance with the above or any other kind of harassment by the bank. RBI Guidelines
>> The borrower has the right to decide a place to meet and a time to be contacted by the recovery agents. He can also choose the time and place to receive calls from the agent.