Karimnagar: In a crackdown on usury, 49 financiers were arrested for allegedly lending money at exorbitant rates of interest in nearby Ramagundam on Monday, police said.

Based on information that a large number of private financiers were indulging in usury, the Task Force Police personnel carried out raids and arrested 49 lenders, Ramagundam Police Commissioner V Satyanarayana told reporters.

The financiers were collecting daily interest from the poor and middle class people and in many cases had taken property documents as security. In case of default, they threatened their customers through their henchmen, he said.

Documents, including blank cheques, ATM Cards, stamp papers, registered sale deeds and title deeds, pledged by the loanees, were recovered during the raid, he said.

Around Rs 65 lakh in cash, 1,235 promissory notes, 1,019 blank cheques, 347 ATM cards, 175 bond papers, 23 land papers, and several passbooks were also seized from their possesion.

Apart from the 49 arrested 70 more of such illegal financiers are currently on the run and the police has launched a massive search to arrest them.The police have formed 60 teams and begun the drive against them in Mancherial, Godavarikhani and Ramagundam.

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The police said they are not registered financiers and neither do they have PAN cards, or licenses for money lending. They have been taking properties on mortgage with nothing on record in these cases. The financiers avoid income tax and other tax payments and vehicle and they were also giving gold loans, the commissioner said.

The police commissioner said that the police will also take stringent action against them and if need be they would invoke the PD (Preventive Detention) Act against repeat offenders.

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