Hathras (UP), Nov 12 (PTI) Police in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras have arrested two men for allegedly duping several people on the pretext of getting them loans under the Prime Minister Mudra Yojna, officials said on Thursday.

The accused were held by officials from the Sadabad police station and the Cyber Cell of the district on Wednesday following complaints of fraud in the name of the central government scheme, they said.

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Those held have been identified as Nitish Agrawal, a native of Ghaziabad, and Rohit Lal Gautam, who hails from Pratapgarh, the Hathras Police said in a statement.

"The accused are part of a gang that has duped several people by contacting them over the phone and assuring them loan under the Pradhan Minister Mudra Yojna in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. They targeted gullible loan seekers but then sought money from them in the name of file charge, commission, insurance, GST, agreement, etc," the police said.

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Hathras Cyber Cell Sub-Inspector Subodh Mann said the accused had access to data of "lakhs of people" across the country and were linked with their partners based in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

"We have got details of some of their bank accounts in which they would receive the money by duping people. However, there are several more accounts which are to be traced, after which the extent of money gained by them through fraud can be ascertained," Mann told PTI.

MUDRA, which stands for Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd, is a financial institution set up by the central government for development and refinancing of micro units enterprises.

The police have seized 11 mobile phones, three laptops, four ATM cards and Rs 15,000 cash from the accused, the officials said.

Detailed interrogation is underway, they said, adding Hathras Police chief Vineet Jaiswal has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for the Cyber Cell for cracking the case.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)