A man who would introduce himself as a service executive has allegedly duped several persons by taking a paltry service charge of Rs 100 or Rs 200 through cheque and then adding zeros at the end and other digits at the start.
Police said Gautam Patra, from Bhupati Nagar in East Midnapore, had allegedly cheated a 66-year-old resident of Vivek Park in Bansdroni by prefixing “4” to 100 and also adding a “0” at the end on a cheque issued by the complainant.
“The complainant had given the accused a cheque of Rs 100 for servicing his kitchen chimney. Patra had introduced himself as a representative of a reputable company that maintains kitchen chimneys. He changed the figure to Rs 41,000," an officer said.
"Before that Patra had gained the complainant's confidence and convinced him that he need not write the amount in words on the cheque. The complaint only wrote the payment amount in numbers assuming that Patra would do the rest. This made it easier for Patra to commit the fraud. He followed the same tactic with other victims, too."
Based on a complaint by the senior citizen, Patra was arrested by officers of Bansdroni police station on Saturday.
The police said they have seized several cheque leaves, photocopies of Aadhar cards, rate charts of various companies that clean chimneys and water purifiers, and repair fans.
“The accused used to target senior citizens, many of whom find it difficult to write a cheque as their hands shake," an officer said.
In a city where a large number of elderly people are forced to stay alone as their children stay outside the city or abroad, many are dependent on neighbours and others to make bank transactions, withdraw cash from ATMs and pay utility bills.
A senior officer of Kolkata police said many such cases have been reported.
“The fact that many such cheque leaves have been found in the possession of Gopal Patra is an indication that he has cheated many people," the officer said.
Patra has been charged under IPC sections related to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.