Shahjahanpur (UP), Apr 21 (PTI) The Shahjahanpur district administration on Thursday attached properties worth Rs 22 Lakh of an alleged loan shark.

The accused is in jail on charges of abetment to suicide after a family of four killed themselves over alleged harassment by loan mafia.

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Two residential plots of Sushil Gupta, valuing about Rs 22 lakh, were attached. A notice regarding the same has also been pasted there, Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar told PTI.

Properties of another loan shark Avinash Bajpai will be attached on Saturday, district officials said.

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District Magistrate Umesh Pratap Singh told PTI on Wednesday that in 2021, a chemist, Akhilesh Gupta, along with his wife and two children, allegedly ended his life. The deceased left a suicide note accusing loan sharks Avinash Bajpai and Sushil Gupta of harassment. The duo was sent to jail for abetment to suicide.

"Accused Avinash and Sushil are members of organised criminal gangs and they would offer loans illegally and recover money on interest at exorbitant rates. It was established in the police investigation that the duo used to physically and mentally harass the families who took loans from them," the DM said.

The investigation into the case further proved that the duo did not have any other legal source of income besides giving loans to people at exorbitant interest rates, he said.

"It has been established in the investigation that the properties and plots worth Rs 60 lakh which the duo acquired were bought with illegal income. So orders have been given to attach their properties," Singh said.

As many as four cases of extortion and fraud are lodged against Avinash and Sushil Gupta in Shahjahanpur, the officials said.

Chemist Akhilesh Gupta, according to police, took a loan of Rs 12 lakh from Avinash and Sushil. The duo later forced Akhilesh to pay Rs 72 Lakh including interest on return in a short span of time. Harassed by this, Akhilesh, along with his wife and two minor children, allegedly killed himself by hanging at his home in June 2021, they said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)