Chennai:
Four more people, including an employee of a mobile phone service provider, have been arrested by the city police in connection with the supply of over 1,000 sim cards to the accused in a case related to operating loan apps involving Chinese nationals. Two Chinese and as many Indians had been earlier arrested for allegedly operating instant loan apps, following a complaint from a man here that he was subjected to agony, abuse, threats and harassment by the online loan app firms over repayment with higher rate of interest.
The investigations revealed that the sim cards used by the accused were procured fraudulently by the directors of a city-based digital firm with the help of two people, including the Territory Sales Manager of a mobile service provider. They procured 1,100 sim cards and handed over them to the accused Chinese, a city police release here said.
The required standard procedure involved in issuance of sim cards was not followed, police said citing investigation. The mobile numbers, used as part of the loan app operations, were used to ”intimidate and abuse” the person who was unable to repay as well as his mobile phone contacts, it added.
The accused were later remanded to judicial custody by a court. Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal lauded the police team for the arrest of the four, the release added.
Of late, there have been many instances of app-based money-lenders harassing borrowers over repayment, which led to suicides especially in Telangana..
