ICICI agents rough up Goa man for not paying loan

[karira]

ICICI agents rough up Goa man for not paying loan


Margao (Goa): Jowett D'souza's had financed his dream car from the ICICI bank in March 2002. But his dream ride abruptly came to a halt on August 6, 2004.

"They gave me two blows, they pushed me and grabbed the keys from me,” says D'souza.

The reason- after making 26 on-time installments, D'souza had failed to pay two because he had run into financial trouble, according to RBI guidelines.

ICICI Bank should have done the following things:

First sent default notices to D'souza.

Then given him reasonable time to make up for the defaulted payments.

And under no condition should it have used muscle power to recover the loan.

But ICICI bank chose to do otherwise.

D'souza was accosted and beaten up in front of the Colva post office. The recovery agents of ICICI BANK snatched his car in broad daylight and that is when D’souza ‘s struggle for justice began.

Police Control Room file notings, applied for by D’souza under the RTI act clearly show that the ruffians were sent by none other than ICICI bank in direct contravention of a Supreme court order.

But D’souza’s ordeal didn't stop there.

"In the month of October 2004, I have written a letter to the Director of Transport saying that the vehicle is in dispute between me and ICICI bank and you are not authorised to sell the vehicle and you have to inform me,” says D’souza.

But the recovery agents got round this as well. On March 3, 2005, they simply forged D’souza's, signature on the letter, terminating the hypothecation on the car.

On March 4, someone posing as D’souza filed a complaint at the Colva police station on a ready-made template stating that the car papers have been lost.

While driving the irony is that D’souza wasn't even in possession of the car at that time.

The next day someone again forged a letter posing as D’souza asking the RTO to withdraw the freeze on the sale of his car.

On May 21 the Crime Branch surprisingly issued a No Objection Certificate, giving the green signal to transfer the car.

On May 25 D’souza’s signatures were forged on all the sale papers of the car.

And on May 30, the RTO cleared transfer of the Car to Mallapuram in Kerala.

"The banks nowadays seem to be engaging gangsters to sieze the car from the defaulters and this is done in collusion with the police" says D’souza’s lawyer, Radha Rao Gracious

It was only after D’souza went to court that the police filed the FIR.

So what is the progress of the case three months later in August 2005 so what's the progress of the case?

"We have registered a case here and the investigations are going on soon we all are going to file a chargesheet soon," says SP, South Goa, Shekhar Prabhudesai.

It is almost two years now and not a single arrest has been made one say more.

ICICI agents rough up Goa man for not paying loan - Yahoo! India News