Vaikom financier booked over friend's suicide over loan default

Vaikom: The police have registered a case against P Sahadevan, the owner of a private finance firm at Vaikom in Kottayam district of Kerala, over the suicide of his friend Thaimuri Asokan.

The case was filed based on the complaint filed by Asokan’s wife V C Ajitha, who alleged that Sahadevan had availed a bank loan amounting to Rs 15 lakh by pledging Asokan’s house and did not repay the money.

Subsequently, the bank initiated recovery proceedings and sent a notice to Asokan, following which he took his own life.

Asokan, a resident of T V Puram in Vaikom, had written a suicide note blaming Sahadevan, owner of S N Finance, and his wife Bindu for his death. The note was handed over to the police by Asokan’s son Akhosh.

“Sahadevan and Bindu are now missing. We have launched a search for them,” said A J Thomas, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP). Several investors in S N Finance also have filed a complaint against Sahadevan, added the DySP.

Cheated by friend
Incidentally, Sahadevan and Asokan were earlier friends and neighbours. “In 2018, Asokan approached the Palliprathussery Cooperative Bank at T V Puram for a loan of Rs 2 lakh. However, the bank rejected his application,” said Ajitha.

Subsequently, Sahadevan and Bindu offered to help Asokan secure the loan, for which Asokan gave them the title-deeds and other documents related to his house. “Asokan, who considered Sahadevan and Bindu as his own family, soon visited the Palliprathussery Cooperative Bank along with them to complete the loan formalities. However, Asokan was unaware of the total loan amount,” said Ajitha.

“Asokan learnt that the loan availed by pledging his house was Rs 15 lakh only later. The bank, after sanctioning the loan, had transferred it to Sahadevan’s account. Asokan questioned Sahadevan over this money, Sahadevan and Bindu told Asokan that they would repay Rs 13.5 lakh to the bank. This was after adjusting an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh which Asokan had earlier borrowed from them,” said Asokan’s wife in her complaint.

Sometime later, during his daughter’s wedding, Asokan again borrowed Rs 4 lakh from Sahadevan. An amount of Rs 1.8 lakh was subsequently repaid by Asokan to Sahadevan. Meanwhile, Sahadevan deposited some money in the bank as repayment of the Rs 15-lakh loan. However, after some months, he defaulted on the repayments.

When the bank sent a notice to Asokan, he took up the matter with Sahadevan, who gave a cheque for Rs 7.5 lakh. But, when the cheque was presented in the bank, it bounced.

“When things reached a critical stage, we sought the intervention of some mediators and an agreement was signed by Sahadevan to repay the loan. However, he did not stick to the agreement and went into hiding,” said Ajitha.

Bank’s stand
Sebastian Antony, present president of the Palliprathussery Cooperative Bank, said that he had no idea why the bank had initially refused to sanction a loan to Asokan in 2018. “Asokan was eligible to receive a loan of Rs 2 lakh,” he said.

“However, the loan in his name is Rs 15 lakh and an amount of Rs 13 lakh is due,” the bank president said.