Victims claim they were harassed despite paying accused Rs 16.9 lakh, almost three times the principal, between September 2023 and May 2025
The police have identified the arrested accused as Sudhanshu Pandey, a Bhandup resident. REPRESENTATION PIC/istock
The Bhandup police have arrested a 23-year-old man and booked his grandmother for allegedly threatening a local priest and his family over a Rs 6 lakh loan, which the family claims to have repaid nearly three times over, paying nearly Rs 17 lakh, including interest.
Police have identified the arrested accused as Sudhanshu Kuldeep Pandey and the grandmother as Pushpa Harishankar Pandey, 70, both residents of Bhandup. According to police, both the accused forcibly entered the complainant’s residence and issued threats after demanding repayment of a loan. The victim, Satishkumar Vitthal Pujari, a temple priest, stated that his son Sairaj had borrowed Rs 6 lakh from the accused in 2023 at an interest rate of 15 per cent after suffering losses when his canteen business shut down.
Over time, the family claims to have repaid the money in stages by raising funds from friends, relatives, and even pawning gold ornaments. In total, the complainant claimed to have paid Rs 16,89,932 to Pandey between September 2023 and May 2025. However, the accused allegedly continued to demand the principal amount of R6 lakh, claiming that the earlier payments only covered the interest. When the victim refused further payment, Pandey and his grandmother allegedly visited his home on the afternoon of July 4, forced their way in, and abused and threatened the family.
“They threatened to kill me and my wife if we didn’t repay the Rs 6 lakh,” Pujari stated in his complaint. He further alleged that Pandey threatened to implicate the family in a false police case if his demands were not met.
Following the complaint, Bhandup police registered a case for criminal intimidation, trespass, and issuing death threats, as well as under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Money-Lending (Regulation) Act, 2014, for lending money without a valid license. Sudhanshu Pandey has since been taken into custody, police confirmed. His grandmother, the second accused, has been sent notice to cooperate with the investigation.
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