Five men were arrested on Tuesday night for allegedly cheating a Kolkatan out of around Rs 10 lakh by making false claims that he had several high-value insurance policies bought long ago and those could be redeemed after paying the premiums that were due.
The man, taken in by the false claim about the insurance policies, transferred Rs 9.97 lakh in phases to multiple accounts, police said. No policy was redeemed. No refund was made.
The police said they found that the group of men who duped the complainant was operating from an office in a building on Chowringhee Road.
The police said the complainant, a resident of Howrah, had reported the matter to Shakespeare Sarani police station.
"The complainant had received a phone call last year. The caller introduced himself as an executive of an insurance company. He claimed that the complainant had several old high-value insurance policies that were lying dormant and could be redeemed by paying a nominal premium," said an officer in the anti-cheating section of the Lalbazar.
Gradually, as the fraudsters managed to lure the person with the promise of high returns, the complainant agreed to pay the "pending premiums" for his policies that he had never taken out.
"The complainant kept transferring money to various bank accounts and ended up paying Rs 9.97 lakh. It was then that he became suspicious," said the officer.
After failing to get any returns as promised, the person approached Kolkata police in June. Based on his complaint, a case was registered under IPC sections related to cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.
Five men have been arrested in connection with the case. They are Sourav Mondal, 30, of Bankura; Arnab Mitra, 31, of Beniatola Street in Sovabazar; Chanchal Mallick, 37, of Baduria in North 24-Parganas; Sovan Basfore, 23, of Manujendra Dutta Road in Dum Dum; and Kush Kumar Mondal, 27, of Gaighata in North 24-Parganas.
All five were rounded up from a location in Madhyamgram on Tuesday. They were produced in a city court on Wednesday and remanded in police custody till August 4.
The police said several bank documents, identity cards and insurance-related papers were found in their possession.