A man who police said was on their watch list for 11 years for allegedly cheating more than a dozen Kolkatans by posing as a travel agent, was arrested on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Indrajit Banerjee, 42, would allegedly pose as a travel agent and make false promises of getting flight tickets booked at discounted rates. He allegedly cheated several Kolkatans across eight police station areas in the city.
The anti-bank fraud section of the detective department trapped the suspect by posing as a customer willing to purchase a ticket for Italy, the police said.
Banerjee lived in a one-room apartment on Maniktala Main Road.
“He used to introduce himself as a travel agent and assure customers that he would provide them with air tickets at cheaper rates. But after receiving the money, he would neither provide any air ticket nor refund the money,” said an officer of the detective department.
According to the police records, there are cases against Banerjee at Tollygunge, New Alipore, Garfa, Survey Park, Charu Market, Jadavpur, Rabindra Sarobar and Park Street police stations — some of them dating back to 2012.
The police said when Banerjee became active again recently, they hatched a plan to catch him. A police officer approached him in the garb of a customer who wanted a ticket on a flight to Italy. A meeting was fixed near Rabindra Sadan on Wednesday evening, from where he was arrested.
Banerjee was produced in a court on Thursday and remanded in police custody till August 5.