Eight bighas of land returned to loan shark victims

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced the return of eight bighas of land, which had been used as collateral by loan sharks, to the rightful owners.

According to the ministry, properties pledged by 45 landowners have already been returned. The ministry further stated that mediation efforts are ongoing to release collaterals pledged to other loan sharks.

After loan shark victims trekked all the way to Kathmandu to draw the attention of the government toward their plight, the government formed a commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki to resolve the problem. The commission is currently focused on resolving the problem by mediating between the two parties.

Uttam Raj Subedi, a member of the commission, said that the commission has successfully resolved approximately 1,500 out of nearly 24,000 complaints received from victims of loan sharks. Subedi noted that 30% of these complaints were cases where the courts had previously ruled in favor of the loan sharks. The victims have been demanding that the government scrap court decisions.

Subedi said that the commission is currently prioritizing mediation efforts. “We will only recommend further action for the serious cases that cannot be resolved through mediation,” he addded.