A 38-year-old man was arrested in central Calcutta on Sunday for allegedly running an illegal call centre that police said was behind a ₹3.1-crore online heist targeting a Behala resident.

According to police, a 66-year-old businessman from Behala was allegedly cheated out of ₹3.1 crore through a digital arrest scam.

Bidhan Ghosh Dastidar, a resident of Behala Parnasree who runs an electrical gadgets business, received the call on October 5, last year.

The caller claimed to represent a well-known courier company and informed Ghosh Dastidar that the CBI and the ED had initiated a case against him because of an illegal consignment booked in his name.

“Soon, another caller identifying himself as a CBI officer made a video call. He showed forged IDs and threatened arrest. Out of fear, the complainant and his wife were made to keep their phones and laptops on video mode for constant ‘CBI surveillance’.

Later, two more fake officers joined the call,” said a senior officer of the detective department at Lalbazar.

Paralysed by fear, Ghosh Dastidar transferred ₹3.1 crore to multiple bank accounts. He later realised that he had been duped.

He reported the case to the city police.

Investigators traced the calls to a location in central Calcutta.

On Sunday, the police arrested Mohammad Amjad, 38, who runs a shop on Marquis Street in central Calcutta.

“Several laptops, routers, WiFi-enabled CCTV cameras, 17 mobile phones, around 2,000 SIM cards and other devices required for setting up internet and LAN connections were seized,” said Rupesh Kumar, joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police.