Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) A 57-year-old contractual employee of Maharashtra Excise Department committed suicide by jumping in front of a local train in Mumbai allegedly due to harassment by private moneylenders, officials said on Monday.

Police registered a case against three persons, including a couple and a woman, for abetment of suicide.

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The victim, Shahu Sadashiv Mane, was found lying unconscious on the railway tracks of the GTB Nagar railway station in the early hours of Sunday.

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He was a resident of Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, Central Mumbai, a police official said.

Mane had not returned to his home till late Saturday night following which his wife called on his mobile phone. The call was answered by a police official who informed the family that Mane was injured in an accident at GTB Nagar railway station.

Mane's 23-year-old son Vinay Mane rushed to the spot. The Mane senior was rushed to the civic-run KEM Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, an official said.

Police found a signed suicide note purportedly written by Mane from his pocket.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Mane ended his life unable to stand the pressure to repay Rs 3.5 lakh he had borrowed from Manisha Dethe (40), a resident of Sardar Nagar in Sion Koliwada.

The loan was borrowed at the monthly interest rate of 9 per cent at Rs 31,500 instalment, after a food and milk business started by Mane suffered losses during the COVID-induced lockdown, as per an FIR lodged by Vinay Mane.

The business venture eventually shut down due to losses, the official said.

"As the loan repayment was delayed, the lender Manisha Dethe and her husband Sudhir Dethe would visit Mane's house and abuse him in front of the family members," the official said.

The initial loan amount swelled to Rs 7 lakh with a 7 per cent monthly interest rate at Rs 49,000 instalment.

Mane was unable to settle debt and started borrowing from others. He managed to pay Rs 3 lakh at one go to the Dethes, the official said.

Mane's elder son borrowed Rs 2 lakh and separately Rs 1.5 lakh from another woman. This money was claimed by Dethe, he said.

Mane then borrowed another Rs 5 lakh from one Vidya Chatur and gave the money to Dethe, the official said.

"The Dethe couple, however, continued to pressure Mane saying the loan amount has gone up. Manisha Dethe and her husband used to abuse him and threatened to kill him if the loan was not repaid," the official said.

On Saturday morning, Manisha Dethe visited Mane's residence and refused to leave until the loan was paid back.

"Mane's wife called up on his mobile number and informed him that Manisha Dethe was sitting at the home. Mane didn't return home till Saturday late night out of fear," the police official said.

Under pressure for not paying the loan, Mane committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving local train, he said.

Railway Police registered a case against Manisha Dethe, her husband Sudhir Dethe and Vidya Chatur on charges of abetment of suicide, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at Wadala railway police station.

Further investigation is underway.

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