District-level squads to rein in loan sharks: SPC Loknath Behera

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the re-emergence of blade mafia, the State Police Chief Loknath Behera on Saturday ordered the formation of district-level special squads to act against illegal moneylenders. The special squads under respective district crime branch DySPs will comprise eight to 10 policewomen and four to five policemen. They will have to plan and execute crackdown on loan sharks based on complaints, an order from State Police Chief Loknath Behera said.

The move comes around one year after anti-loan shark operations under the banner of operation Kubera that ended with the change of government. In March, this year, a loan shark was arrested after a girl in an affected family raised complaint with the Prime Minister’s office. The complaint from the girl who had received national award under Bharat Scouts and Guides was transferred to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Similarly, last month, in an incident that made headlines, a loan shark who allegedly had connections with a local MLA attacked the family of a borrower at Neyyatinkara. “The anti-loan shark operations are a continuous process. The lenders who go underground usually appear in the public soon after the drives. Such, a squad will bring more focus to the actions,” said a police official. During the tenure of last government, state wide anti-loan shark operation under the banner of operation Kubera started after a money lender destroyed the house of a borrower in the district. A second edition of the operation was also started after the suicide of a four member family tormented by blade mafia committed suicide at Kallayam in the capital.