Swabi farmers want company to pay back fraudulent loans

SWABI: Around 123 farmers from Swabi have asked the government to press an Islamabad-based company to pay bank loans taken in their names fraudulently.

Talking to reporters, the farmers hailing from Razaar and Swabi tehsils said that Khushhali Bank Manager, Islamabad, had served notices on them to deposit Rs181,325 loan each within 15 days or else action would be taken against them.

The farmers said that they had not taken any loan from the bank but it served notices on them to return the amount. Giving the details, they said the Islamabad-based company had signed an agreement with the farmers to grow potato and the company would purchase the produce from them on a reasonable price. However, they said the company later backed out of the agreement and did not purchase the produce on the agreed price.

The leader of affected farmers, Sirajul Haq, said that after the agreement the farmers submitted their identity cards and other documents with the company’s officials and the company later withdrawn loan in their names. “It was not less than a bombshell for the poor farmers when they were served with the bank notices to deposit money,” he added.

Siraj said they later contacted a local NGO, which arranged a meeting of the two parties. The company, he said, gave an undertaking in a local court that the loans withdrawn in their (farmers) names would be deposited in the bank. When contacted, an official of the company also confirmed that they would deposit loans withdrawn in the farmers’ names.