A 42-year-old man was arrested on Friday from his rented accommodation in Salt Lake’s Sector III for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 24 lakh by promising a medical degree for his son.

Navin Kumar Sharma, who hails from Haryana, was picked up from his house by a team of Delhi police, which was accompanied by cops from the Bidhannagar commissionerate.

An officer of the Delhi team said Sharma had met a man several months back who wanted his son to be a doctor.

Sharma told the man, a resident of Rajouri in Delhi, that he could not only secure a seat for his son at a medical college but would also ensure that he got the degree “no matter what his performance was”, the officer said. “Sharma then told the man that he would need to pay a total of Rs 1.5 crore, which would include the course fee and a ‘donation amount’,” the officer said.

“The victim paid Sharma Rs 24 lakh in installments. He, however, could not secure a seat for his son. After a few months, Sharma switched off his cellphone and stopped all communication with him. It was then he realised that he had been duped and lodged a police complaint.”

The complainant had given the cops the number from which Sharma used to call him. “We placed the number under surveillance but it was switched off for the past few months. A few days back when it was switched on, we zeroed in on this location here,” the officer said.

Delhi police got in touch with their counterparts at the Bidhannagar commissionerate and they rounded up Sharma from his rented accommodation.

Sharma was produced in a Salt Lake court and is being taken to Delhi on a transit remand.