Kolkata World Cup fraudster arrested

Kolkata:

A travel agent who defrauded football fans from Kolkata by promising them a trip to Germany and tickets for the World Cup finals has been arrested and remanded to police custody till July 14. The travel agent is also believed to have swindled a Zurich-based travel agency. Indraneel Mitra had promised Kolkata's football fans the world - travel to Europe and tickets to the world cup finals. However, as many as 30 of his client reached Frankfurt last Thursday to find that they had been duped. It was then that the Kolkata police was informed and they arrested his father, Pannalal Mitra on Tuesday. Indraneel was arrested on his arrival from London. "Mr Pannalal Mitra was brought to Lalbazar yesterday and we interrogated him. We also searched offices of the travel agency, Endeavour, and found certain documents which prove he was actively involved in the travel agency run by his son," said Gyanwant Singh, detective department, Kolkata Police. Besides the 30 clients stranded at Frankfurt, at least 50 other clients of Endeavour, Mitra's agency, have been cheated. But Mitra's lawyers claim the clients misunderstood the terms of their package tour and, when asked for balance amounts, accused the travel agent of cheating. "Indraneel had no intention of cheating anyone. Otherwise he could have simply gone underground. There has been misunderstanding. That will be proved in the courts," said J N Chatterjee, Pannalal's lawyer. A case of cheating has been registered against Indraneel Mitra. His father is already in police custody till July 10.