A merchant navy official from Goa has been allegedly duped of ₹30 lakh by men who posed as representatives of a company that manufactures aircraft parts and supplies “scarce radioactive metals” to research institutions and manufactures agricultural machinery.

According to police, the men who cheated the navy official are from Calcutta.

Abdul Matin Carol, a resident of Margao, said he had received several calls from men who introduced themselves as officials of “The Royal Mars”, a company that was in the business of supplying aircraft parts and as well as rare metals to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

“The callers told me that they manufactured aircraft parts and supplied rare metals to various government agencies and research agencies apart from manufacturing agricultural machinery. They had promised a very lucrative return for my investment,” Carol told Metro from Goa.

A senior officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said they have arrested two men — Kanti Kumar, 36, alias Karthik and Kunal — in connection with the case.

According to Carol, he met a group of men in a Salt Lake hotel where he had put up earlier this year. The men had introduced themselves as officials of “The Royal Mars”. They told him that he needed to pay ₹30 lakh which would double within a year.

Among the men Kumar had introduced himself as a scientist, Carol said.

Initially, Carol had transferred ₹10 lakh to a bank account and the rest later.

An officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said that to gain the trust of the victims, with whom they usually established contact through social media, the men would use documents such as letterheads with the names of the organisations such as RAW, ISRO and DRDO written on them.

The men also told Carol that they used to make agricultural machinery including “rice puller harvesters” that are in very high demand in foreign nations.