Sikkim fraud cuffs on Calcutta trio

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 29 Nov 2019, Gangtok: Sikkim police have arrested three persons from Calcutta for allegedly duping a businessman out of Rs 3.50 lakh.

The cops said the trio had promised Santa Kumar Rai, a businessman from Melli Aching in West Sikkim, to set up a tower of a telecom company on his land against huge returns.

The accused -- Biplab Nag, Subhankar Paul and Sayan Ghosh -- were arrested from Calcutta last week following a police compliant lodged by Rai on November 4. A police team led by PVG Satish, the additional superintendent of police, West Sikkim, nabbed the trio with the help of cyber cell of the Bidhannagar police.

"The accused were produced before the district court at Gyalsing in West Sikkim and have been charged under section 420 of the IPC. We have taken them in police custody and are interrogating them further," said a senior police officer.

In his complaint, Rai alleged that some persons had approached him over phone in June with an offer to install a mobile tower on his vacant land in Melli-Aching and promised huge returns. He was then asked to deposit the money in a bank account to process the application and towards transportation charges. To win Rai's trust, a laptop and an LCD TV was also sent to him for installation at the tower site.

However, Rai got suspicious after the persons continued to ask for more money even after paying Rs 3.50 lakh. He then decided to lodge a police complaint.