Cases of 1,697 extortionate money lending settled

Birgunj, Nov 12: As many as 1,697 cases of extortionate money lending have been settled through mediation in Parsa district.

Spokesperson at the District Police Office, Hari Bahadur Basnet, informed that a total of 2,367 cases of extortionate money lending were registered in the district. Among these, 635 are yet to be settled. Secretary of the Farmers Struggle Committee against Usury, Shambhu Prasad Yadav, however, said the trend of inflicting people with tampered documents on loan and excessive interest rates was yet to be wiped out.

Real victims of usury are awaiting justice, he added. Kaniya Prasad Yadav from Pokhariya municipality said a local bigwig, Jogindar Raut Kurmi, had forced him to sign a document on a loan of Rs 330,000 while the actual loan was Rs 110,000. “Government must take stringent measures to curb such activities,” he demanded.

Through the conciliation, Rs 291 million was recovered in cash, while over 40 bighas of land against the ill practice of extortionate money lending in the district, spokesperson Basnet added.