Dedicated unit to probe all cases of harassment by digital lending apps; 21 cases already transferred so far; decision follows series of reports in mid-day
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil gets insights into the frauds committed by instant loan providing apps, from mid-day’s journalists, on May 25. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
After Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil took a serious note of mid-day’s series of reports on the fraudulent practices and bullying of customers by digital lending firms, city police chief Sanjay Pandey has ordered that all loan app harassment cases be transferred to Mumbai Cyber Cell. So far, 21 cases, including the suicide of a Malad man allegedly due to harassment by recovery agents, have been handed over to the Cyber Cell.
While the Cyber Cell takes up cases of digital frauds where the amount is high and a serious investigation is required, the app loan cases were handled by the local police as the amounts were just in the thousands. “Because the loan amounts were very low, the local cops didn’t act on them, which led to the further spread of the loan app cases and now the numbers are unimaginable,” a source from the state home ministry said.
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Moved by the unspeakable trauma thrust upon the borrowers of loan apps, the home minister earlier met mid-day’s reporters and high-ranking police officers to get more insights into the matter. The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has already registered an umbrella case to investigate such matters across the state.
Sources in the Mumbai Cyber Cell said the unit has also written to WhatsApp to block 227 numbers that were used to make harassment calls in loan app cases. The cyber cell which had earlier written to CERT-In, a central body, to remove 103 loan apps from Play Store, has now sent a fresh request to remove 90 more apps found during the course of its investigation. The apps provide loans without RBI clearance and do not have a money-lending licence from the state government.
As per Mumbai police data, 53 cases related to loan apps were registered in the city in the first four months of this year but only one has been cracked. In May, 21 cases were reported and all of them have been transferred to the Cyber Cell.
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No of WhatsApp nos. cyber cell wants to get blocked
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