A case has been registered against three employees of a leading private finance company for allegedly assaulting a farmer for failing to pay loan instalments, police said.
The FIR came over a month after the victim had lodged a complaint in this regard.
The trio has been identified as Amol Gawande, Preetesh Vade and Satish Murkute.
According to police, Rajesh Bhaurao Burewar (45), a resident of village Karmana in Ghatanji tehsil of Yavatmal district had obtained a home loan of Rs 70,000 from the local branch of the finance company in December 2013.
Under the plan, he was to half-yearly instalments. Although he paid first two instalments on due dates, he failed to pay other instalments due to some financial constraints.
"Rajesh has five acres of rain-fed land from which he earns his livelihood," police said.
Last month, the company asked him to reach the Yavatmal based company office. Accordingly, on October 9, he went to the office along with Rs 5,000 that he took from a private money lender in his village.
In his complaint, Burewar said that on reaching the company office, he was asked to sit in a room. After sitting there unattended for around two hours, when he started moving out, one employee caught hold of him and dragged him to the room and demanded for signing a blank stamp paper. After awhile, two more staffers joined and forced him to get his signature on the blank stamp paper.
"When he refused to budge, they started beating him. The victim alleged that the trio forcibly obtained his signature on the blank stamp paper and snatched away Rs 5,000 from him and also broke my mobile phone," police said.
Thereafter, he lodged a complaint with the police. But no FIR was registered for a month, after which the farmer approached the SP of Yavatmal, who instructed the city police to file an FIR against the trio.
Accordingly, the accused has been booked under IPC sections 347 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 392 (robbery), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
