What's Call Money & Why it's volcanic?

So what's Call Money racket that is having political and societal repercussions in Andhra Pradesh, particularly the capital region of Vijayawada? While at first reports said that the ruling Telugu Desam Party leaders were involved in it, subsequently evidence started pouring in that leaders of many parties have been steeped in the seedy racket. So what's the racket all about? People at some point become needy and seek debts for family and other reasons. They look for ready loans without much paper work and requests. By a mere phone call if one can get a loan, that is the preferred option, even if the rate of interest is usurious. That is Call Money. A mere phone call gets the loan! The catch is, however, the undated promissory note and signed cheques that are taken by the creditor. If the note is dated, the cheques taken will be valid only for 3 months. Besides, the call money creditors have long-term plans of exploitation. The racketeers' focus is on the regular interest collection rather than the loan amount. The people fall for this easy money trap. When they do not pay back the interest at regular intervals, the creditors send rowdies to do the job. They seize the papers of the people's assets. The papers remain with the racketeers till the growing interest along with the principal is not paid back. The people obviously find it difficult to pay back the whopping interest rate. The racketeers await till the interest mounts to 300-400 per cent of the principal. That is the point when the racketeers strike really hard. Do whatever but pay back, say the racketeers. They then hint at a solution of the sleaze. Women borrowers in hundreds have thus been forced into sleaze trade, according to the police. The police now say that many of the women have committed suicide rather than yield to the racketeers' pressures. In fact, the Call Money racket exploded with a woman, who had borrowed Rs. 1.5 lakh loan, piling up an interest of Rs.6 lakh and exposing the racket. She was smart enough to record the conversation she had with the sleaze racketeers and put up the evidence before the police. With the woman setting the record straight, the Call Money racket and the big bosses behind it started coming into the public view. As the police were forced to act on her evidence, they started finding a virtual valcano in Vijayawada. As the police are trying to get to the bottom, the people fear a volcanic eruption of crime and sleaze in Call Money.


More News