A marine engineer was arrested on Wednesday night on the charge of defrauding a youth of Rs 34,000 through a fake advertisement on Quikr.

Partha Mazumdar, 30, held a bogus two-week training programme for those who responded to the advertisement and handed them fake appointment letters for jobs in leading private banks, police said.

The Bidhannagar City Police arrested Mazumdar from his home in Baruipur, South 24-Parganas, on Wednesday night based on a complaint by Dipankar Kundu. The police raided various parts of the city throughout Thursday and detained two more people in connection with the case.

Kundu, 23, of Goghat village in Hooghly said in his complaint that he saw an advertisement with a phone number under the "Jobs" section of Quikr that promised employment in private banks with an annual salary of Rs1.5-2 lakh.

Mazumdar received his call and asked him to appear for an interview in the Sector V office of Nexus Group within three days.

"Kundu was selected in the interview and asked to enrol in a two-week training course," an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said. "At the time of enrolment, he and 20 others were asked to pay Rs 34,000 each."

Kundu said in his complaint that the office was impressive with a front desk, a chamber for the company chairman, a room for teachers and another room for classes.

"The complainant said middle-aged men dressed in formals introduced themselves as senior officials of private banks. They held classes on banking activities and on developing soft skills," the officer said.

"At the end of the programme, Kundu was given an appointment letter for the post of a front office executive in the Sector V branch of a private bank," he said.

When Kundu approached the bank earlier this month, officials told him that the letter was fake. When he reached the office of Nexus Group, he learnt that those who had taken the place on rent had vacated it. The cell phone number in the advertisement was switched off.

He then lodged a complaint with the cyber crime department of the Bidhannagar commissionerate.

Investigators found another advertisement of the same company on Quikr but with a different cell phone number.

"We called up the number and found a man talking of similar training and job opportunities. We tracked the number and arrested Mazumdar from his home," the officer said.

The police seized a laptop, a cell phone, cash and bank-related documents from his home.

The police said Mazumdar was employed with a shipping firm after getting his engineering degree. He travelled to several countries before quitting after four years on the job.

The police claimed he has confessed to cheating unemployed village youths for the past one-and-a-half years.