Police raid house of ‘loan shark’, seize documents

SARLAHI, Jan 14: A team of Sarlahi Police on Sunday raided the house of an alleged ‘loan shark’ Ram Babu Raya Yadav, following his arrest last Wednesday.

Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa had directed Sarlahi Police to arrest Yadav, who is also a central committee member of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), after his victims met with the home minister in the capital and demanded justice. 

Yadav, a candidate of the RJPN in the local level elections for the post of mayor of Barahathawa Municipality, has been accused of charging high interest rates to the locals and then selling their lands upon default. 

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The victims have claimed that Yadav has been demanding interest amount five times more than the actual interest by producing ‘forged documents’.

Police raided Yadav’s house located at Barahathawa Municipality-10 while he was in custody. According to Superintendent of Police Bishwa Mani Pokharel, chief of Sarlahi Police, Yadav’s house was raided to collect information for investigation. A joint team of District Police Office, Malangawa and Area Police Office, Barahathawa, raided the house.

Locals said the raid lasted around two hours. Police seized loan documents from the house. “Police have seized important documents which support the investigation process,” a police, who raided the house, told Republica.

Victims have also complained that Yadav didn’t return the documents even after clearing the loan amount, and sold the lands – kept as collateral – unlawfully. 

The victims also complained that Sanjay Gupta Rauniyar had been torturing the borrowers. But, Gupta has been able to flee to India, according to Sarlahi Police. Gupta was a candidate of the erstwhile Naya Shakti Party Nepal for the Provincial Assembly elections from Sarlahi Constituency-2.

Meanwhile, RJPN has said that the government has tried to frame Yadav due to political differences. The party said Yadav is a good political leader, and the government has tried to defame him.