A family from Rajarhat’s Block B has alleged that they were cheated out of ₹14.33 lakh by a travel agency they had hired to organise a trip to Europe.
One of the accused was arrested on Thursday in East Midnapore’s Egra in connection with the case, Bidhannagar police said on Friday.
The family was scheduled to fly out on August 7, but the trip was delayed due to visa issues. According to the police, the complainants blamed the agency for the delay, citing negligence in processing visa documents since May.
The agency eventually handed over the visas in the third week of August, but then stopped responding to all communication.
“The initial travel date was missed because the visas were not issued on time due to the negligence of the agency. The trip was delayed to the third week of August,” said an officer from Bidhannagar police.
On August 20, Arthita Chatterjee, a member of the affected family, lodged a formal complaint of cheating and criminal breach of trust at Electronic Complex police station. The complaint named Basharul Islam Munna alias Shaikh Bashar, director of Travel Bazar Global located at Srijan Corporate Tech Park, and his associates Arpan Dey and Rakesh Nandan Das.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered. The police said Bashar stopped responding to calls and messages from August 19. Dey, his associate, allegedly promised to create a communication group to coordinate with the family, but that too never materialised.
After this, all contact was cut off, raising further suspicion.
During the investigation, the police found that Bashar had previously been arrested in another cheating case. Acting on leads, they traced Das to Egra, where he was arrested and later produced in court on Friday.
Senior officers cautioned people to be vigilant when dealing with travel agencies. “Only choose agencies with a proven track record. Always verify the credentials of the agency and its owners before making any payments,” advised a joint commissioner of police.