Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 6: Police personnel attached to Barke station in the city have arrested Shaun D'Souza (36) from Bokkapatna here. D'Souza has been accused of running the business of lending at exorbitant rates of interest and then cheating people by asking them to return huge sums which were disproportionate to the amounts borrowed.

80 blank cheque leaves pertaining to various banks, five stamp papers, and Rs 7,500 in cash were recovered from his possession.

Allegedly, Shaun used to promise people to lend them money at cheap rates of interest. He has been accused of collecting signed blank cheques from them towards repayment. Later, he would fill fancy amounts in the signed cheques and threaten the borrowers to repay the sums mentioned therein. Failing compliance, he allegedly threatened them of booking cheque bounce cases against them and also harassed them to pay back unduly large sums, complainants say.

The police said that they conducted raid on Shaun's house on Sunday based on complaints made by people from Kodikal, Suratkal and other places, who had borrowed money from him. It is gathered that relating one such case of harassment, a person was attacked two days back, after which Shaun himself had got admitted into hospital. Police say that during their investigation, they found out that Shaun had faked injury to hoodwink policemen.

Barke police inspector, Rajesh, accompanied by other personnel, had conducted the said raid.