Imagine what happens when a daily-wage labourer, who earns between Rs 50 to 60 a day and has a family of ten to look after, is issued a loan recovery notice of Rs 1.8 lakh for a loan he has never taken.

Jamuna Das (45) committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in front of his house in Bhadrekhi village in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand, while his family was fast asleep on the night of December 29. He left behind his wife and nine children struggling in a life of poverty. According to his wife Rajulika, Das had received a recovery notice by Allahabad Bank (Babai branch) in the last week of July for the non-existent loan. “Since the notice, he was extremely stressed,” she added.

Das’s 17-year-old son Rajpal told The Indian Express that some unidentified persons took the loan in his father’s name by submitting fake papers. He also alleged that some unauthorised brokers, in nexus with bank officials, had acquired illegal loans for their kin leaving innocent villagers to face action.

Rajulika said her husband ran from pillar to post to prove his innocence but the bank authorities put pressure on him to “return” the amount. “He wrote to the chief minister, district magistrate, Atta police and other officials but no one helped him,” she said.

When The Indian Express reached the Allahabad Bank (Babai branch), it discovered that the then branch manager Sher Singh was lodged in Orai jail, with over 15 cases of loan-related frauds registered against him.

... contd.