Moneylender ends life after tearing currency notes worth Rs 80,000

In a bizarre incident, an elderly moneylender committed suicide by consuming poison at Shantigrama village in Karnataka’s Hassan district after tearing currency notes worth Rs 80,000 he had drawn from the bank.

Police said Chikke Gowda, a 75-year-old moneylender, could have resorted to the extreme step as he frustrated that people in the village had stopped borrowing money from him.

Chikke Gowda had drawn Rs 80,000 from the bank on Friday. On Saturday, he began tearing the currency notes, which were in denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 100. Next, he consumed poison and committed suicide in his house.

According to preliminary investigation by Hassan Police, which is investigating the case, Chikke Gowda was a known miser in the village and harassed borrowers rarely approached him the second time for a loan.

Chikke Gowda’s family members said he was frustrated that many of his borrowers had stopped borrowing money from him. The moneylender leaves behind his wife and four sons.

Meanwhile, the police said the family members can exchange the torn notes for good ones from the bank under the RBI Currency Note Refund Act if they paste the torn pieces of the notes properly.