A man spent more than Rs 6 lakh to get his son a government clerical job but realised he had been cheated when he landed up at what he thought would be his son’s office — Khadya Bhavan.

Three people have been arrested in this connection. Police said they took the money from the Murshidabad-based family by promising to get a family member a job in the state government’s food department, which has its headquarters at Khadya Bhavan in the New Market area.

The fraud came to the fore when Mohammad Nuruddin Sheikh and his son Abdul Hadi Sheikh reached Khadya Bhavan on Mirza Galib Street on Monday and realised they had been cheated when the documents they showed at the office were not recognised.

The two reported the matter to New Market police station. Officers tracked down the men with the help of the mobile numbers they had used to contact Sheikh, the police said.

Ramprasad Ghosh, 29, a resident of Krishnanagar, Ajit Kumar Majhi, 34, and Prabir Kumar Das, both Dum Dum residents, have been booked for cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.

“People should understand that it is better to encourage their children to study and secure a government job on merit instead of bribing someone,” an officer in Lalbazar said. “Hundreds of people fall prey to such frauds by touts.”

Despite running awareness campaigns against such cheats, people still get cheated and they end up paying money to those making false promises of a government job, the police said.