Four men have been arrested in Rajarhat and Calcutta on Tuesday for allegedly duping an officer of the Indian Coast Guard who thought he had booked a bungalow for a weekend at a resort but was taken for a ride.
The men were arrested after the officer lodged a complaint with Rajarhat police station.
A senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said the officer had come across an advertisement for bungalows on rent. The advertisement had a number that the officer contacted. The man on the other end had identified himself as Mohammed Saquib, police said. He allegedly asked the officer to pay the rent amount for a weekend in advance.
“The coast guard officer made the payment to the number he had called using a mobile wallet. He called to confirm the payment and was told his bungalow was booked. He was given a bungalow number,” the police said.
The coast guard officer was supposed to call the number when he went to the resort and someone would hand him the keys. When he reached the resort he was stopped at the gate and questioned by guards.
He called the number again and this time, the man identified himself as Miraj and demanded more money for the “booking confirmation”, the police said.
“The officer was denied entry as there was no booking for any bungalow there,” the police said.
The police started an investigation and mounted surveillance on the number where the coast guard officer had called.
The police identified the four arrested as Mohammed Saquib, 25, Mirajul Molla, 30, Ashraf Imam, 23, and Imran Imam, 24.
They placed advertisements on social media and on websites offering bungalows at the resort, the police said.
“Once the victim was convinced, the callers would take the whole amount in advance and then demand more money once they reached the resort. When they got the money, they would stop communication,” an officer said.
