Prime Commercial Bank on Tuesday allegedly seized a financed vehicle, employing armed goons, on the loanee's failure to pay instalments. The borrower, Til Bahadur Poudel Chhetri of Bharatpokhari-6, Kaski, has filed a complaint at the District Police Office, claiming that his Toyota Hilux pick-up (Ba 8 Cha 8386) was seized at gunpoint while he was in Nayabazar of Pokhara. 

"Initially, they said they were from the bank and showed relevant documents," said Poudel said. "When I said I will talk to the bank, they cocked a pistol. I handed them the key and they took away the vehicle." Police officials, who are investigating the case, said the bank adopted illegal measures for loan recovery instead of coming to the police. 

"We came to know that a bank employee assigned the job of seizing the vehicle to a person having surname Lamsal," said Superintendent of Police Yadav Raj Khanal, chief of District Police Office, Kaski. "Lamal used goons of Pokhara to seize the vehicle, as per our preliminary investigation."

According to SP Khanal, Ananta Chapagain, head of the bank's consumer loan department, assigned Lamsal for the job. "We will interrogate Chapagain and other bank employees involved," said Khanal. Later in the day, the police, bank staffers and Poudel had held talks. DSP Tul Bahadur Karki, who participated at the dialogue, said the bank took the law into its own hands to confiscate the vehicle. "It should have rather come to the police,' he said.

However, Prime Bank CEO Narayan Das Manandhar denied the allegations and instead said bank requested the police to seize the vehicle. "The vehicle has not yet been brought to the bank and we are investigating the matter," he said. "Loannes exaggerating the matter is natural when banks make efforts to recover loans." Manandhar added that the bank wants the police to conclude investigation.

The bank seized the vehicle a day after it published 35-day notice in a newspaper, asking Poudel to clear loans. Poudel, who is the director of Laxmi Car Decoration in Kuleshwor, Kathmandu, said he had taken the loan nine months ago from the bank's central office in New Road, Kathmandu. 

Showing the receipt of the payment of two instalments worth Rs 120,000, Poudel said he has already cleared seven instalments out nine. "I committed to pay the remaining two instalments soon, but they seized the vehicle," he added. According to Poudel, the bank had financed Rs 2.7 million for the vehicle worth Rs 3.99 million. Poudel also runs a restaurant named `Fewa Wood Rock' in Pokhara.