Five people from Bihar and Karnataka, who were residing in the city, were taken into custody on Friday in East Jadavpur for allegedly deceiving applicants who were seeking loans through the PM Mudra Yojana.

According to police officers, 14 mobile phones, purportedly utilised to deceive the applicants, were confiscated from the accused.

“These men used to cheat on the false pretext of providing loans in the name of PM Mudra Yojana. The arrests were made after a case was drawn up at the cyber police station based on a specific complaint on January 7,” a senior police officer said.

The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was launched in 2015, providing loans up to ₹10 lakh to entrepreneurs. The loan limit was later increased to ₹20 lakh.

The police said that among the arrested, Amir Khan is from Gaya, Bihar. The others — Rathin CD, Mohammad Nizamuddin Siddiqui, Vilas Shinde and Madhusudan HR — are from Karnataka.

The group had rented an apartment in East Jadavpur and targeted small entrepreneurs seeking loans for their business, the police said.

According to police officers, the group used to claim that it could facilitate loans for applicants through the Mudra Yojana. Applicants were asked to fill out forms and submit their business details along with photocopies of documents. They would
be required to pay a processing fee.

Once the funds were transferred, the members would snap all contact.