By Pearly Tan and Gan Ling Kai

Yishun drama as woman sits on road to halt car.

THERE was real drama in a Yishun block during a post-Hari Raya dinner last week.

An elderly man allegedly manhandled by some people working for moneylenders had to be rushed to hospital.

His family claim that they were punched and hit with chairs.

Bricks were also thrown.

The police were called and as the men fled, one woman sat on the road in front of a moving car to prevent the people in it from leaving the scene.

Two of the moneylenders' assistants were arrested. So were seven members of the family.

All are out on bail.

The events leading up to this began when Mr Muhd Jamal, 59, and his wife, Madam Salbiah, 56, wanted to sell their flat, as he needed money for medical treatment.

The retired security guard had bought the three-room flat in 1985 and claims it is now worth $240,000.

The illiterate couple claim they were made to sign, by an acquaintance, documents which they thought were for the sale of their flat.

Mr Muhd Jamal and Madam Salbiah describing the incident.

But they were actually signing up for a loan, most of which they claim, the acquaintance kept.

Then, they claim a distant relative pulled a similar trick on them, with other moneylenders.

From February onwards, the moneylenders hounded them repeatedly for repayment of their loans which totalled $47,000.

They refused to pay.

Then last Tuesday, it all exploded.

Mr Muhd Jamal's daughter Ms Suzy Jamal, 36, described the drama.

The day before the fight, someone she believed was representing the moneylenders contacted her and said they wanted to meet.

She told them to meet at her parents' Yishun home.

When she arrived, she saw about 10 people sitting around a table at the void deck.

Ms Suzy claimed she had been told earlier that the men would be bringing along the relative who made her parents sign the documents.

But he was not there.

They then went up to the fourth-storey flat.

But the family refused to deal with the issue until the relative turned up. That's when it turned ugly.

Ms Suzy claimed one of the men sparked the fight.