A father and son duo was arrested on Sunday for duping a retired person through a fraudulent chit-fund scheme.
Sources said Amarendra Brahmachari and his son Rahul swindled crores of rupees from a retired official and spent the money lavishly. However, as the father-son duo moved cleverly, the police pursued them just as diligently.
According to police, a retired government official from central Kolkata had saved over a crore for his retirement. Amarendra Brahmachari and his son targeted him, convincing him to invest in a chit fund scheme. They baited him by promising hefty returns on his investments. Initially, the victim invested a small amount and received some returns and gained trust in the duo.
Gradually, he invested his entire life savings of Rs 1,09,50,000 into the scheme. However, instead of depositing the money, Amarendra and Rahul reportedly misappropriated the funds. Allegedly, they spent most of it on purchasing gold jewellery and indulging in luxury. The duo spent large sums in upscale hotels, pubs, and on extravagant lifestyles. The fraud came to light when the victim attempted to withdraw his funds and discovered that almost nothing had been deposited into the scheme. Following this, he filed a complaint at the Muchipara police station.
During investigation, police first tracked down Rahul Brahmachari using mobile phone details and arrested him. However, his father’s whereabouts remained unknown. Despite interrogating the son, no concrete leads emerged. Finally, it was discovered that Amarendra had been contacting others using different phone numbers to conceal his location. Acting on these leads, the police raided a luxury hotel in the Ballygunge area on Sunday night and arrested Amarendra.
The police interrogated the father and son face-to-face. Both claimed that they had separately spent the money on luxuries, gold, and expensive furniture, leaving nothing behind. The police are now verifying their claims and conducting searches at multiple locations to recover the funds.