The Udupi police have arrested Koushalya.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The Udupi district police have arrested one Koushalya on the charge of cheating two persons of ₹1.45 crore by assuring them of a loan under Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
In her complaint to Brahmavar police station, Sarita Lewis, 39, a resident of Yedtady village in Brahmavar taluk, alleged that Koushalya assured her of a loan under PMEGP. Under the guise of making payments to get this loan, Koushalya made Ms. Lewis pay her and her family members, including her husband Sandesh, ₹80.72 lakh in cash. Similarly Ms. Lewis’s relative Angelina D’Silva paid ₹65 lakh to Koushalya in cash to get a PMEGP loan of ₹4 crore.
The Brahmavar police registered her complaint for offences under Sections 318 (2), 318 (4), and 190 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and arrested Koushalya.
PMEGP is a credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through the establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) functions as the nodal agency at the national level, while it is implemented by Khadi and Village Industries Boards, District Industries Centres (DICs), and banks in the State.
As per the information on the dashboard of PMEGP, a total of 14,575 applications from Karnataka have been filed for loans between April 1 and October 27. Of this, 344 applications were from Udupi and 281 were from Dakshina Kannada.
Published – October 27, 2025 06:30 pm IST
