163 cases against financiers, but no convictions

HYDERABAD: The tentacles of illegal money lending in Old City, which has trapped thousands of businessmen in an incestuous circle of debt, have spread so far and wide that all the 17 police stations of the South Zone (SZ) combined have registered a staggering 163 cases since 2012 against financiers for harassing borrowers and charging backbreaking interest rates for lending the money.
An analysis of data provided by SZ police details areas in which these offences have been committed. Each police division, which could possibly serve as a cluster of areas to understand patterns of illegal lending, provides a means to map the occurrences of illegal financing in Old City and also indicates the neighbourhoods where these criminals thrive.
For instance, with 17 cases, Charminar police station (CPS) recorded the highest number of incidents of financier harassment. And, in fact, Charminar Division, which comprises five police stations — Bahadurpura, Kalapather, Kamatipura, Hussaini Alam and Charminar — accounted for 48 of the total number of cases.
Similarly, Santosh Nagar Division with its four police stations at Bhavani Nagar, Kanchan Bagh, Madannapet and Santosh Nagar booked a total of 49 of the recorded 163 cases, comprising a little over 36 per cent, and the highest in SZ.
Close on the heels of CPS, Mirchowk police station recorded 15 instances of illicit money lending even as Mirchowk Divison, with its police stations covering Dabeerpura, Moghalpura, Rein Bazaar and Mirchowk, registered 42 cases, which accounts for 30 per cent of cases in SZ. With 24, Falaknuma division registered the lowest number of cases.
While the numbers may be construed as the willingness of the police department to crack the whip on unlicensed financiers by booking them under sections which deal with wrongful confinement, extortion and criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and the Telangana Money Lending Act, there have been no convictions thus far. In fact, of the 163 cases registered, a staggering 99 are at different stages in various courts of law and another 44 have been acquittals. Seven cases are under investigation and action in two has been dropped. One case has been labelled as false and two have been quashed in courts of law.
Police officials said that they are forced to quell financing activity by taking suo motu action against financiers whenever their harassment reaches new levels. Not surprisingly, victims seldom approach the authorities to file complaints. "Affected people do not come forward to register their complaints because they fear that the moneylender will either harass or refuse to lend them more money. Many witnesses have failed to testify in court because of which there have been few or no convictions," an officer said.
Old City has also proved to be a safe haven for licensed pawn brokers who unlike unauthorised financiers, lend money based on collateral. Old City has 59 such moneylenders who primarily operate from Shalibanda, Old Kabootar Khana, Shamsheergunj and parts of Uppuguda. Data revealed that there are 15 pawn brokers in Shalibanda police station limits (PSL), 14 in Moghalpura PSL and 11 in Hussaini Alam PSL. The remainder are seen in Dabeerpura, Mirchowk, Chatrinaka, Bhavaninagar, Mirchowk and Madannapet limits.
"Pawn brokers are mostly marwadis. Many women approach them and offer anything from a small air cooler to a refrigerator to gold as collateral. If the borrower is unable to return the money, they sell the collateral and recover the amount," observed activist Ali Asghar from GRAIN.
When contacted, DCP (South) Sarvashresth Tripathi said, "The ' pending trial' cases are no longer with the police and are with the courts who deal with them accordingly. We take all cases, including that of unregistered financiers seriously."
(Shaharnama intends to capture the Old City's real picture, reflecting on things that need to change and that are indeed changing for the better. This is the concluding part of the series on illegal money lending in Old City.)