The son of a former Kolkata Police commissioner, currently serving as an additional director general of police in Bengal, was duped in an online fraud while trying to book a paying guest accommodation in Delhi.

One person was arrested on February 2 from Chandrasekharpur in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in connection with the case.

Investigators said the entire swindled amount was transferred to an account at a nationalised bank’s Chandrasekharpur branch and later withdrawn from an ATM on Pragati Enclave Main Road in the same locality.

Police sources said the bank shared details of the suspect after being contacted by investigators.

The accused was identified as Rakesh Pradhan, 24, and arrested from a rented room on the first floor of a building in the Sailashree Vihar neighbourhood of Chandrasekharpur.

The fraud began when the 23-year-old complainant, a resident of south Calcutta under Shakespeare Sarani police station area, browsed the internet for accommodation in Delhi in the last week of January.

After coming across a website listing PG accommodations, he selected one of the properties.

“The owner of the selected accommodation contacted the complainant over the phone and asked for ₹3,000, saying it was required to generate a ticket to visit the property. As soon as the money was transferred, the purported owner claimed there was a technical glitch and that the payment had not been received. He was asked to pay again, with the assurance that the earlier amount would be refunded,” an officer of the cybercrime police station said on Wednesday.

The fraudsters then told him that the booking could be confirmed only after the full month’s rent was paid. The complainant transferred ₹12,094 online.

“The fraudsters again claimed the money had not reached them and asked him to resend it,” a senior Kolkata Police officer said. Another ₹11,999 was transferred.

It was only after the final transaction that the complainant realised he had been cheated. He lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police station at Lalbazar on January 29.

The money trail led investigators to Pradhan, who was brought to Calcutta on transit remand and remanded in police custody. He was produced in court again on Wednesday and sent back to police custody.

During the investigation, it was found that Pradhan had invested part of the money in apps called “Kamai Kendra” and “Kimi.” He is suspected to be part of a larger organised racket, the police said.

The police have so far recovered two mobile phones and a SIM card from him.