VIRUDHUNAGAR: The accused in the multicrore Virudhunagar bank loan scam had cherry-picked their targets and made sure the victims were poor and unlettered. They were offered paltry sums ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000, couple of meals at fancy hotels, and booze. They were mostly approached by workers and loadmen of a dal mill owned by the masterminds — O M S Velmurugan and his nephew R Shenbagan.The penurious settlements in and around Virudhunagar town offered a happy hunting ground for the scamsters to prey on their victims. V Kalidoss, 27, of Balaji Nagar, a father of two who earns Rs 100 a day by selling juliflora trees for firewood, was one such victim. For the class IX dropout, the Rs 1,000 offered by the accused was good money. He was given Rs 100 extra to gulp down a few pegs of cheap liquor and food. “I did not have a bank account, but got one in just a day and all that they wanted was my Aadhaar card,” he said.At least four of his close relatives were also lured into the scam with loans ranging between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 40 lakh obtained against their names. First, Kalidoss was taken to the agricultural godown at Pattiveeranpatti near Batlagundu in front of the SBI bank branch in Theni without being told why they were there. “When I got the notice from the bank to pay Rs 27 lakh, I had the shock of my life. When I confronted the owner, police took me to the station and beat me up,” he said.According to family members, several victims had undergone mental trauma and depression. Many of them have become addicted to liquor and got mired in domestic disputes. At least five people have died of problems related to depression, they said.One of the victims, S Ramachandran, said, “I left my job and started consuming liquor. My wife deserted me and went to live with her parents along with the children, all because of the bank problem,” he said. He was told that his bank account would be used to get a loan of Rs 3 lakh.Ramachandran agreed since the accused promised to repay the loan on time. He received an SMS informing him that an amount of Rs 43 lakh had been deposited in his account.On the same day he was taken to the bank and in no time the money transferred to the account of the accused, he said. Some of the victims have even lost their near and dear ones. Soon after J Anthonysamy, 55, of Kalaignar Nagar got a notice from the bank informing him to pay the loan amount, his wife, A Sankarammal, died of shock.On Sunday, eight months after her death, Anthonysamy also died of cardiac arrest.His daughter, M Marilakshmi, said, “He was in constant fear that bank officials may start harassing us. He has been regretting the day he went to the bank. The kind of depression he faced took his life.”P Ganesan who was instrumental in the case being booked in Thenkarai police station in Theni district , says at least 400 people have been cheated.Now he is facing threats, Ganesan said.

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