Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS): A man accused of defrauding a judicial magistrate of West Bengal has been arrested from Rajasthan, police said on Saturday.

West Bengal police sources said that the arrested is idenitified as Prem Singh. After arresting Prem Singh from Rajasthan, he has been brought to Kolkata on transit remand, the police sources said.

In October 2022, judicial magistrate Somshubra Ghosal had filed a complaint at the cyber crime police station under Bidhannagar City Police of being cheated of Rs 92,000 while attempting to make an online booking at a five-star hotel at Puri in Odisha for vacation with his family.

In his complaint, Ghoshal said that while making his attempt for online booking, he received a call where one person claiming to be calling from the booking office of the said five-star guided him to visit the hotel website and directly book the room for his holiday there. Thereafter, the caller provided him with the details of a bank account for transfer of the advance amount of Rs 92,000.

Ghosal did accordingly and just a couple of days before leaving for his vacation, he called up the particular five-star hotel to confirm his booking with them. However, to his surprise the hotel authorities informed him that there is no booking in his name.

Understanding that he had been defrauded in the process, the said judicial magistrate immediately contacted the cyber crime police station and their cops investigating the matter.

Tracking the details of the bank account where the amount of Rs 92,000 was transferred, the sleuths reached Rajasthan and finally nabbed the accused from there.

The sleuths came to know that he was a part of a racket who used to defraud people by opening a fake website of the said hotel. The sleuths have deactivated that website and are currently interrogating Prem Singh to know about his other associates in the forgery racket.