Valley
‘Loan shark’ singer faces music
Police on Sunday arrested Rekha Shah, a popular folk singer, on the charge of lending money at exorbitant interest rates.Manish Gautam
Police on Sunday arrested Rekha Shah, a popular folk singer, on the charge of lending money at exorbitant interest rates.
Shah, who shot to fame with the folk song “Simsime Panima”, was arrested along with her husband Indra Gurung by Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, for trying to extort Rs 10.43 million from Subash Raj Kafle, father of Sandip Raj Kafle to whom Shah claimed to have lent money.
The singer has claimed that she had “given” Sandip Rs 6 million in May and June and additional Rs 7.3 million in September last year.
She told police that she had again given Sandip Rs 1.78 million. According to police, Sandip was deeply into gambling and is at large.
Following Sandip’s “disappearance” after failing to pay back the money, Shah started threatening his father Subash, according to police.
But when asked to furnish paper or transaction details regarding the money Shah had “given” to Sandip, the folk singer failed to produce any documents, in an indication that she had lent the money to the gambling addict at exorbitant interest rates, often called “meter interest” as the interest, whose rate is already dizzyingly higher, continues to multiply with time.
SSP Bikram Thapa, chief of MPR, Teku, said they have not found any proof to support Shah’s claim that she had given money to Sandip.
Lending money at exorbitant interest rates is a common phenomenon in big cities, especially in Kathmandu, where lenders provide the money to the needy and then chase them to pay it back.
Police have also in the past warned about lending money at usurious interest rates, saying “meter interest” has become a menace in city areas and breeds crime.
Shah’s arrest on Sunday is the first high profile “meter interest” case since March 2014 when Mahesh Bahadur Singh was detained by police.
Singh would lend money to people and in a few months the amount to be paid back would be three times the principal amount, making it impossible for borrowers to pay, police said.
Singh used to lend money to businessmen, and if they failed to pay back the loan, he would resort to extortion and hostage-taking.
SSP Thapa said preliminary investigation shows singer Shah had lent money to Sandip at exorbitant interest rates, which is illegal, as only banks and financial institutions can carry out banking transactions, including lending.
The Kathmandu District Court has remanded Shah to six days of custody for further investigation.
Police said Shah’s arrest has once again prompted the law enforcement agency to crack down on loan sharks and “meter interest” lenders.
But if past incidents are anything to go by, investigation into such cases is often hampered by lack of evidence and complaints, as borrowers often do not report the cases to police.
In Singh’s case in 2014, police struggled to collect evidences. They filed a case against Singh at Kathmandu District Court, which later released Singh, as a result the efforts made by police went down the drain.