A 28-Year-old city-based businessman allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poison at his office in Odhav on Sunday afternoon. The person was identified as one Dharmesh Prajapati.

The police said that Prajapati had to payback debts of over Rs 20 lakh and that the incident might be a fallout of harassment at the hands of private moneylenders.

A resident of Dhanlaxmi Society in Odhav, Prajapati is at present undergoing treatment at the Shardaben Hospital. The police are yet to record his statement to ascertain the actual reasons behind taking the extreme step. His office is situated on the Amar Krupa Road Lines near Geeta Gauri Cinema.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Prajapati, who runs a transportation business, had recently lost over Rs 20 lakh in cricket and gold betting. His family members told the police that he had borrowed money from private moneylenders in the city.

“We have been told that some persons had barged into Prajapati’s office premises and roughed him up a couple of days ago. It seems that he was being threatened by some people and we cannot rule out the possibility of them being private moneylenders,” said Ajay Kumar Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V).