Man accused of duping travel firm held in Kolkata

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of city police has arrested a 35-year old man for allegedly usurping Rs1.05 crore of a tour and travel firm in 2008. Surjeet Bose was nabbed after he arrived at the international airport in Kolkata from Singapore, following a lookout notice issued against him. The prime accused in the case, Biru Ghosh, is still at large, the police said.

In 2003, the owner of the firm was looking for a person having experience in dealing with foreign exchange. The complaint came across a newspaper advertisement wherein a man, who identified himself as Biru Ghosh, claimed to be having the required experience.

The complainant hired Ghosh as project manager and assigned him to look after the affairs of the company. Within four months, the firm recruited Bose for its marketing department.

A year into his stay, Ghosh suggested to the complainant to apply for a forex licence and gave a licence number to him after a month. Ghosh and Bose also persuaded the travel firm's owner to set up offices in Delhi, Kolkata and Goa.

The police said Ghosh had taken money from the complainant to buy office space in Kolkata and Delhi. However, the complainant later learnt through his contacts that no office had been purchased in either of the cities.

The travel firm filed a complaint against Ghosh and Bose with the Andheri police in 2008. The case was later transferred to the EOW. "Several attempts were made to trace Ghose and Bose, but they remained untraceable. We had filed the charge sheet in the court and a non- bailable warrant was issued against Bose," said an EOW officer.