Debt forced trader to attempt suicide: Police

Ara: Crushed by mounting debt, a large income-tax liability and relentless pressure from lenders, a 54-year-old trader from Bhojpur allegedly attempted suicide by jumping before a moving train and is now battling for life in hospital.The incident occurred on Friday evening. The loco pilot applied the emergency brake in a bid to avert the tragedy, but the trader sustained multiple injuries. Doctors said his condition remains critical. Police recorded his statement on Sunday.“I was under heavy burden of loan that I had taken from my business partners for a poultry farm. They were putting constant pressure on me to pay back immediately Rs 5 lakh that I had borrowed from them. Besides, I had recently received a notice to pay my accumulated income tax too,” said Vijay Kumar Gupta from his hospital bed.Gupta once ran a flourishing liquor business at Piro in Bhojpur from around 2001. However, the business collapsed after prohibition came into force in Bihar. He later moved to Daltonganj (Medininagar) in Jharkhand to continue the liquor trade with partners.He also borrowed Rs 5 lakh from a partner to start a poultry farm, but the venture failed, pushing him deeper into financial distress.His wife, Supriya Gupta, said persistent pressure to repay the loan drove him to take the extreme step.“My husband took this extreme step due to continuous pressure from his business partners to pay back the money (Rs 5 lakh) that my husband had borrowed. Though we requested them to give us a 10-day time to arrange for the money, they were unrelenting and adamant on their demand,” she said.Gupta’s brother-in-law, Vidya Bhushan Kumar, said, “My sister’s husband had gone into depression after he received a notice to pay his accrued income tax of around Rs 2 crore.”