Hyderabad, Feb 4 (IANS): The Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the Director General of Police to take immediate steps to block illegal instant loan apps.

The court said the police should take strong measures to check the loan apps indulging in illegal practices.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Hima Kohli, gave the direction on a petition seeking action against the apps for harassing borrowers.

Lawyer Kalyan Deep, who filed the petition, pleaded for stringent action against the apps as their harassment is leading to suicides by borrowers.

The court also asked the DGP to submit a report on the activities of loan apps and action taken against them. It also sought a report from Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda Police Commissioners about the cases booked in loan apps scam.

It was towards the end of December that the Telangana Police began the crackdown on illegal instant loan apps following suicide by five persons.

Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy had said 50 cases were registered in connection with the instant loan apps.

During the last one month, more than 30 accused including four Chinese nationals were arrested by Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda police, the three commissionerates which cover Greater Hyderabad.

The first arrests were made on December 22 during the crackdown by Hyderabad and Cyberabad police on five call centres in Hyderabad and Gurugram.

The police found in their investigations that the companies were offering small loan amounts through different apps and collecting repayments by way of harassment and blackmailing.