Pune: The Parvati police on Thursday traced a man (48), who has been unemployed for some time, to a hotel on Sinhagad Road and prevented him from harming himself because he was distressed about an online loan of Rs 20,000 for which he ended up paying Rs 5 lakh to fraudsters.Despite the payments of Rs 5 lakh, the suspects continued to harass him for more money. He had left his house on March 6 without informing anyone. His family members searched for him in various parts of the city. His wife (45), a teacher, later lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Parvati police on March 8.Senior inspector Rajendra Sahane of Parvati police told TOI, “Last year, he needed some money and after seeing an online advertisement for a loan application, decided to take a Rs 20,000 loan. The amount was credited to his account within minutes.”Sahane said, “The man, a resident of Sahakarnagar, ended up repaying Rs 5 lakh. Despite this payment, the suspects kept demanding more money and threatened to upload his morphed photographs on social media. They claimed that this would defame him in society.”The suspects, the officer said, also claimed that they had the contact numbers of his relatives and friends and repeatedly demanded money.“We started searching for him and analysed CCTV footage from various locations. We found that he was headed towards Shivajinagar. We traced his movements to a lodge in Shivajinagar. However, by the time our team reached there, he had already left and moved to a hotel on Sinhagad Road,” Sahane said.“Our team reached the hotel on Sinhagad Road on Thursday afternoon and found him writing a suicide note,” he said.
