An agent who helped Somnath Roy, who along with his family was found dead in their Kasba home, secure a loan from a nationalised bank for a commission and was allegedly demanding more money, has been arrested for abetting the suicides.

Police said Chanchal Mukhopadhyay, who helped Roy obtain ₹10 lakh from the Rash Behari branch of a nationalised bank in March 2024, had allegedly taken ₹2 lakh as commission, but he was asking for more.

Mukhopadhyay, 46, was arrested early on Thursday from his home on Bechu Doctor Road in Kasba. He has been sent to police custody till March 12 by the Alipore court.

“The accused is one of the persons named in the FIR filed by Roy’s in-laws . He facilitated a loan of ₹10 lakh for Roy, from a bank for a commission of ₹2 lakh. Later, he was demanding more money from the family, causing immense pressure on them,” Alipore court chief public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal said.

The police said it was still not clear if Mukhopadhyay was trying to recover the money on behalf of the bank or if he was trying to extort money for himself.

Roy and his wife were found hanging at their Kasba home. The body of their two-and-a-half-year-old son was found hanging from a sling around his father’s neck.

A note left by the family mentioned Mukhopadhyay’s name. A police officer said they were probing his role.

“We have learned that he (Mukhopadhyay) helped Roy obtain the bank loan by arranging his documents. We need to check the details,” said the officer.

Officers who have the experience of dealing with cases of debt recovery and loan default said agents often arrange fake documents to facilitate a loan that the person is otherwise not eligible for. In such cases, the agents have a free hand to disturb the loan applicant and even blackmail them.

Loan defaulters being hounded by recovery agents, now called “collection agents”, sent by agencies hired by banks are not uncommon.

“There was a strict directive that no collection agent can harass a defaulting family in the name of recovery,” said a senior bank official.

Senior police officers, however, said that before reaching court, collection agents often try to recover the debt as they become eligible to get a portion of the money recovered.

“We sometimes receive complaints from people who have defaulted and are being harassed. We start a case only if there is merit in the case...the flip side is, some people take advantage of the law and lodge complaints to escape repaying the loan,” said an officer of the rank of assistant commissioner.

“We always advise people to stay away from app-based loan services. These loan app owners are difficult to track and often indulge in illegal ways to recover the loan amount,” the officer added.