Representative image
Representative image
Gopavarapu Venkateswarlu, a grain trader, hails from Pidugurala in Palanadu district has been running a rice mill for the past few years along with his partners on Janapadu road. Against this backdrop, he took a loan of three crore rupees from several people in the town at an interest of Rs. 1.50 and lent them to other merchants at an interest of Rs.2. hoping for an additional interest of half a rupee. Many of the merchants who borrowed at interest of one and a half rupees went bankrupt. As a result, three crore rupees were not returned.
On the other hand, rice worth forty lakhs of rupees was sent on credit to traders in Tamil Nadu as part of the rice business which didn’t received any payment. In addition to this, there was a loss of 35 lakh rupees of damaged rice in the rice mill. Due to this, the merchant Venkateshwarlu fell into debt. Both Venkateshwar’s sons are working as software engineers in America. Venkateshwarlu and his wife Anjali Kumari returned from America a month ago. Since then the borrowers are putting pressure to return it.
On Saturday morning the worker came home and knocked on the door, but no one answered. However, when he pushed the door and entered the house, he found Venkateshwarlu hanging from the rope. On the adjacent bed Anjani Kumari was lying distraught after consuming poisoned rice. Locals believe that he committed suicide because he could not pay his debts. Police have registered a case and are investigating.