Mumbai: The Samta Nagar police have arrested four individuals for allegedly cheating a businessman of Rs 50 lakh through a “money-doubling ritual.” The accused have been identified as Navneet Gorle, Raju Adle, Shivkumar Yadav, and Rajesh Vishkarma, all aged between 25 and 30.

The court has remanded them to police custody until December 26. All the accused were absconding, however, the police traced their whereabouts and arrested them in Kandivali East, where they all reside on..

The complainant, Kailas Chaudhary, 35, a resident of Kandivali East, owns a grocery store. In September, one Pramod Upadhyay alias Dabbu visited the shop as a buyer and promised Chaudhary that he could double his money with a “simple ritual”. Chaudhary dismissed the claim but was enticed again in October.

Out of curiosity, Chaudhary agreed to meet Upadhyay, who came with one Shivkumar Yadav aka Suryababa. Chaudhary was taken to an apartment in Goregaon West, where other persons were also present. Yadav took out a book and asked Chaudhary to place a Rs 100 note in it, which he turned into two.

An encouraged Chaudhary arranged Rs 50 lakh and met the group again at a relative’s house on December 18. Yadav asked everyone to switch off their phones and gave ‘prasad’ to eat, which rendered Chaudhary unconscious.

He regained consciousness the next morning at a hospital, where his relatives were present. Chaudhary informed his brother, who advised him to report the incident to the police.