The Mumbai crime branch on Saturday arrested five members of a gang who cheated banks by taking loans using fake documents. DCP Akbar Pathan said the mastermind, Kaushik Kumar Nath alias Romi Kapoor, 45, is a history-sheeter with similar cheating cases registered in Assam and Kolkata. The cops recovered several documents from the residence of the mastermind; all documents had his same photograph with different names.

As per officials, the Oshiwara resident claimed he used to work in the Merchant Navy in the past, before he started a rice exporting business. Eventually, though, he started cheating banks. In Mumbai, he has cheated two nationalised banks in Mandavi and Mira Road and has taken loans of Rs 59 lakh, Rs 29 lakh, Rs 31 lakh and Rs 29 lakh. Officers said he took three types of loans: business loans, vehicle loans and home loans. "We suspect he may have cheated many banks," said Pathan.