Panaji, Mar 14 (IANS): The Goa Police Cyber Cell arrested an Assam-based fraudulent recruiting agent, who would lure aspiring sailors to part their money for jobs onboard shipping vessels and then cheat them.

According to a statement issued by the Cyber Cell, the accused Sumit Upadhyay, a resident of Guwahati, was arrested in a joint operation conducted by police agencies from Assam and Mumbai just when he was about to leave Mumbai by flight.

Sumit's arrest followed a complaint made to the Goa Police by a shipping company 'Ouvert Marine' whose website he had cloned to allegedly cheat job aspirants in shipping companies.

"The complaint by 'Ouvert Marine' said some unknown persons had created a fake website of the company impersonating it. They would then issue placement letters to aspiring sailors and ask them to pay fees for processing placements up to Rs 5 lakh per victim. Several complaints were received in this regard by the Director General, Shipping," the statement said.

After the Cyber Cell took down the fake website, Sumit had absconded and was on the run using "fake identities, sim cards and travelled across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai and Guwahati", the statement added.

"The accused then attempted to abscond to Mumbai where a joint team of ATS Mumbai under Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Shivdeep Lande, and led by Police Inspector Daya Naik, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sahar Airport, and Cyber Cell Goa officials apprehended him in the plane," the police statement said.