A woman who was lured through a fraudulent advertisement that offered helicopter rides to Digha and Vaishno Devi at an “affordable cost” was cheated after she made an online payment, police said.
Cops arrested the accused on Tuesday. He had been on the run for almost two years, the police said.
The complainant, a resident of Patuli, had reported the matter in November 2021. “According to the complaint, the victim had visited a website and come across an advertisement that offered affordable helicopter rides to Vaisho Devi and Digha from Kolkata. She booked a ride to Digha and transferred Rs 9,120 into a bank account in Hooghly,” said an officer of the cyber cell of Kolkata police.
After a few days, she realised she had been duped.
The police had initiated a probe and tracked the accused through the bank account to which the money had been transferred.
“We came across the name of Vikash Kumar Bhagat, 26, who is from Goalpara in Jagaddal, North 24-Parganas. We conducted raids but he was not found at home,” said the officer.
Later, the police said they found out that Bhagat had fled Bengal and was in Bihar to evade arrest.
Based on a tip-off, early on Tuesday, the cops zeroed in on Bhagat who had come to his ancestral home in Jagaddal. He was arrested.
Senior officers in Lalbazar said such advertisements offering lucrative travel offers on the Internet were common.
“It is best not to avail of any service whose information is shared on the Internet except if someone you know has already tried it,” said an officer.