A businessman from Manipur was allegedly cheated out of ₹35 lakh by a group of tricksters who posed as customs officers, police said.
Three persons, including the alleged kingpin, have been arrested and a part of the stolen amount has been recovered, the police said.
The police said the complainant, a businessman from Manipur, had come to Calcutta last week to strike a deal to purchase gold at a cost lower than the market rate.
“He checked into a hotel in Ballygunge where some gold traders were supposed to meet him. However, a group of men who claimed to be customs officers raided the hotel. They claimed that they knew about the illegal gold deal,” said an officer of Ballygunge police station.
Later, the group drove away with the businessman. They snatched the money from the businessman and dropped him at the airport and asked him to leave the city, the police said.
The businessman called a friend and went to Ballygunge police station and filed a complaint.
The police scanned the hotel’s CCTV footage and identified the car used in the crime.
The driver was tracked down soon. The cops located another accused tailing the driver. The duo told the cops about their leader, an officer said.
The alleged kingpin, Pintu Mandal, had initially fled to Bihar and then to Gorakhpur, where he was arrested.
“Samir Sarkar, Mohammad Nafeez Akhtar and the kingpin, Pintu Mandal, have been arrested. We have recovered around ₹23 lakh,” said Bholanath Pandey, deputy commissioner (southeast division), Kolkata Police.