Chit fund owner held for driving couple to suicide

A chit fund owner from Hosahalli who charged exorbitant interest on loans was arrested on Tuesday for driving a couple to suicide, police said.

Rudra Prakash is accused of abetting the suicide of Dharmaraj, 55, and his wife Bhagya, 50, who allegedly hanged themselves at their Vijayanagar home on the night of March 19.

Failed to repay loan

The couple left behind a purported suicide note, alleging that Prakash had been harassing them for loan repayment.

The couple ran a bakery in Cottonpet and had borrowed Rs 60 lakh from Prakash by pledging an immovable property as security. But the business didn’t do well and Dharmaraj was unable to repay the loan.

Prakash then demanded that Dharmaraj transfer the pledged property to him, and even caused a ruckus outside his bakery.

The couple’s son, Darshan, filed a complaint before the police, naming Prakash.

A police officer said Prakash had gone absconding soon after the complaint was filed but they managed to track him down.

He is currently being questioned and will be produced before a magistrate on Wednesday, the officer added.