Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced a statewide crackdown on illegal moneylenders and said it would further strengthen the Maharashtra Money-Lending (Regulation) Act, 2014, following a shocking incident in Chandrapur district in which a farmer was allegedly forced to sell his kidney to repay a loan of Rs 8 lakh.
Replying to a calling attention motion in the Legislative Assembly, Minister of State for Home Pankaj Bhoyar said strict action would be taken against offenders, including the confiscation of their properties. The motion was moved by Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar and BJP legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar, among others, highlighting the alleged kidney racket in the state.
Legislators cutting across party lines demanded that stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) be invoked against those involved. Responding to the demand, Mr. Bhoyar said the properties of the accused in Pune would be seized and added that the proposal to book the accused moneylenders under MCOCA would be examined.
Participating in the debate, Mr. Wadettiwar alleged that farmers trapped by illegal moneylenders were being pushed to extreme desperation, including selling their kidneys, and claimed such lenders were operating unchecked across Maharashtra. Citing the case of Roshan Kude, a farmer from Chandrapur, he said a moneylender had allegedly recovered Rs 74 lakh against a loan of just Rs 1 lakh. Despite losing his tractor and farmland, the debt allegedly remained unpaid, forcing the farmer to take the extreme step. He was reportedly lured abroad with the promise of a data centre job, where his kidney was removed.
Mr. Bhatkhalkar described the offence as organised crime and sought clarity on whether MCOCA would be invoked. He also demanded the setting up of a special court to ensure speedy justice.
Giving details of the case, Mr. Bhoyar said the incident involved a farmer from Nagbhid tehsil in Chandrapur district, who had initially borrowed Rs 1 lakh and later taken loans from six different individuals between 2021 and 2023, eventually falling into a debt trap. Harassment by the lenders led the farmer to file a police complaint in 2025, following which all six accused were arrested. All the moneylenders were unlicensed, he said.
The investigation revealed that the farmer was taken to Cambodia for kidney removal. The network, Mr. Bhoyar said, involved not only the six moneylenders but also a middleman from Solapur and his associate. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the international organ trafficking racket, with links extending from Trichy in Tamil Nadu to Phnom Penh. The Solapur-based middleman is suspected to have facilitated the sale of kidneys of at least 10 people.
The Minister said the government had launched a statewide campaign against illegal moneylenders. Three-member committees, headed by district collectors, have been formed in every district to monitor such activities and will submit reports to the government every three months. He added that existing laws would be reviewed to plug loopholes.
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