Harassed by friend, jeweller ends life in Rajkot

RAJKOT: A jewellery showroom owner ended life at his home on Karansinhji Road in Rajkot city due to alleged harassment by his friend and his kin. The body of Ramesh Lodhiya (43) was found on Monday when the firemen broke open the house.
According to police, Lodhiya had not been answering his wife Vairagi’s phone calls for the past couple of days. The couple had been living separately for the past two years due to marital discord.Their two kids used to live with Vairagi.
On Monday, when the calls went unanswered again, Vairagi became suspicious and went to check on Lodhiya. Since he did not open the door, Vairagi called the fire brigade for help. Firemen broke open the door and found Lodhiya’s body hanging from a ceiling fan.
Police said that Lodhiya left behind an 11-page note. In the note, Lodhiya mentioned that he had taken the extreme step due to harassment by his old friend Krushnasinh Raizada, his wife Sobhnaba and six other family members.
As the Raizada and his wife were in dire need of money, they had mortgaged their jewellery worth Rs 37 lakh with Lodhiya at his shop on Kothariya Road. Lodhiya had lent Rs 21 lakh to the couple at 2% monthly interest rate. After getting the money, Raizada and his family allegedly started threatening Lodhiya to return the jewellery by threatening to file a case against him under Money Lending Act, the note stated. They had even submitted a complaint at Aji Dam police station stating that Lodhiya was illegally running a money lending business and charging high interest rate.
Due to the threats, Lodhiya had given Raizada Rs 11 lakh, however, the harassment continued. Tired of the threats and harassment, Lodhiya ended his life. Police suspect that Lodhiya died on September 18.
Police officials said that once Lodhiya’s wife gives a statement and a formal complaint, an offence will be registered against Raizada and his wife.