A 25-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were arrested for alleged loansharking harassment on Tuesday morning.

Acting on information received, police detained the pair, who were found behaving suspiciously in the vicinity of Pending Road, at about 1.15am. Preliminary investigations revealed that both of them were suspected to be involved in harassing debtors in Bukit Panjang and Yishun Housing Board estates.

The two would allegedly splash paint outside debtors' residences, padlock the units' main gates, and scrawl graffiti on the walls. Loanshark-related paraphernalia such as a can of paint, a marker and a mobile phone were seized.

Under the Moneylenders Act, first time offenders found guilty of loanshark harassment face a jail term of up to five years, a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000. They are also liable to three to six strokes of the cane.