Surat: Udhna police have registered an FIR against two moneylenders for allegedly charging exorbitant interest, misusing blank signed cheques and threatening a tea shop owner with dire consequences when he resisted their demands.The case was registered on Saturday following a complaint by Mahendrapratap Singh, (54), a resident of Pandesara. The accused have been identified as Jignesh Kavaiya, (35), and Pravin Marathe, (49), both residents of Udhna, police said.Singh has been running a tea shop at Sonal Industrial Estate in Udhna for nearly 35 years. According to his complaint, he first borrowed money from Kavaiya in 2018 to meet his business requirements. Kavaiya allegedly charged interest at the rate of 3% per month.Singh told police that between 2018 and 2025, he borrowed Rs 7 lakh from Kavaiya in instalments. He claimed to have repaid Rs 16.65 lakh, including the principal, interest and penalties. Of this, Rs 9.65 lakh was allegedly paid over and above the principal towards interest and penalties. He also alleged that Kavaiya charged a penalty of Rs 1,000 for every delay in interest payment.The FIR states that Kavaiya later arranged another loan for Singh from his associate, Marathe. From around 2023, Singh allegedly borrowed Rs 13.05 lakh from Marathe at an interest rate of 2% per month.Singh claimed that he repaid Rs 8.15 lakh through bank transactions and another Rs 2 lakh in cash, taking his total repayment to Rs 10.15 lakh.According to the complaint, Marathe had taken four blank signed cheques from Singh as security. Singh alleged that two of the cheques were misused. One cheque was filled in for Rs 13.47 lakh and returned, while another was filled in for Rs 8.94 lakh and presented for payment.Singh further alleged that the accused repeatedly visited his tea shop and threatened him with death. Fearing for his safety, he returned to his native place in Uttar Pradesh, the complaint stated.Udhna police have registered a case for extortion and criminal intimidation under Sections 308(5), 351(3), 352 and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Gujarat Money-Lenders Act and have launched a detailed investigation.
