Three people, including director of an app-based instant loan company, were arrested by Pet-Basheerabad police on Friday in connection with the ‘forced killing’ of a 36-year-old private employee on January 2.
The accused have been identified as — 28-year-old Hemanth Kumar Jha, director of Flash Cash Pvt Ltd, Gurugram, 28-year-old V. Manjunath, HR manager at Juss IT Technologies Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru, and 25-year-old Abdul Lauk, manager-cum-team leader of TGHY Trust Rock Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru.
The companies operated Rupee Plus, Kush Cash, Money More and Cashmap apps. Directors of Juss IT Ashwin and Sandeep and one Kalsang Tenzing from Bhutan of TGHY Trust Rock are at large, Balanagar DCP P.V. Padmaja said on Friday.
She said that the victim — Chandra Mohan — borrowed money from more 11 instant loan apps and repaid over ₹ 2 lakh. However when the telecallers of those companies were harassing him to pay extra money he resorted to the extreme step at his residence.
During the course of investigation, police found that the apps from which Chandra Mohan borrowed loans were operated from different parts of the country, including Delhi and Bengaluru. Special teams were formed and three people were taken into custody.
Explaining the modus operandi, Ms. Padmaja said that the accused advanced small amounts as loan through different apps and recovered the money by harassing and blackmailing the borrowers.
She said that the accused Hemanth developed the apps with the help of one Michael of China and operated the firm from Gurugram to maintain the database of the customers.
Similarly, Manjunath and Abdul Lauk who worked for two different companies in Bengaluru developed their own apps and ‘looted’ people, the officer said.
Police froze over ₹ 65 lakh in seven bank accounts, and seized two laptops and five mobiles from their possession.
