Repay loan else property will be seized: Bank tells Trinamool leader

KOLKATA: The TMC leader from Nandigram, Sheikh Sufian is apparently in dire straits following a notice served to him by Kaanthi Cooperative Bank, warning that he either repays the loan of Rs 49 lakh or his property will be seized.

The famous ‘Jahaj bari’ residence of Sufian in Nandigram, named so due to its design of a ship, has again come to the limelight after bank authorities sent a legal notice to him asking him to either pay the amount of Rs 49 lakh which includes principal and interest, or bank will take further action.

It is learnt from the bank authorities that Sufian took the loan for the construction of the palatial house and to buy a fishing trawler but did not repay it to date.

The bank said it had earlier served Sufian a loan repayment notice but it did not yield any action on his behalf. Hence, the bank resorted to legal action.

Sources said that Sufian had secured a loan of Rs 25 lakhfrom Kanthi Cooperative Bank.

Although he had been paying the instalments till February 2022, it stopped after that month.

About Rs 7 lakh 33 thousand is still pending. Further, he secured another loan from the same bank of Rs 27 lakh, 50 thousand in 2020 but allegedly did not pay anything for that amount to date.

It is learnt that due to non-repayment, these loans have now become non-performing assets (NPA) for the bank, putting the bank in jeopardy.

Now, the bank has given the TMC leader a deadline of one month for clearance of dues, failing which it may seize the residence and the trawler as collateral against the disbursed loan.

Sufian has however said that he will be paying the entire amount and the delay in payment was due to some confusion over the interest rate imposed on the

principal amount.