Government forms taskforce to combat loan sharking

KATHMANDU: The government has formed a taskforce to take steps for the containment of loan sharking. Home Ministry's joint-secretary Bhishma Bhusal is the coordinator of the six-member taskforce formed by Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand at the direction of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The taskforce follows the ministry-level decision. Nepal Police Central Investigation Bureau's Senior Superintendent (SP) Dinesh Acharya, Home Ministry's under-secretary (law) Shree Krishna Poudel, Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office's SP Krishna Prasad Koirala and National Investigation Department's deputy-investigation director Mukund Marhattha are its members. Likewise, CIB Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Roshan Khadka has been designated as the taskforce member-secretary. Prime Minister Deuba summoned the Home Minister, Inspector General of Police (IG) Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Armed Police Force IG Raju Aryal, and Home Ministry's joint-secretaries and directed them to assess ways for resolving the problem, bringing those involved in the practice of lending money at unreasonably high-interest rates under the purview of law and for preventing it in the future, too.  The formation of the taskforce follows the same order from the Prime Minister. The taskforce has been assigned to submit a report within a week. It will visit those districts reporting the incidences of loan sharking, and find out the causes of it and ways for the solution. It will establish inter-bodies coordination to book those involved in this practice and recommend ways for containing the crime in the future. READ ALSO:

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