Woman, Bangladeshi accomplice held for robbing man in Kolkata

A Bangladeshi national and a woman were arrested from the city’s airport area for allegedly robbing a man they had targeted through a matrimonial website, police said on Friday.

The victim had recently created a profile on a matrimonial platform and connected with the woman, with whom he developed a “relationship” over phone conversations, an officer said.

“Eventually, they agreed to meet in person at a hotel near the city airport in Dum Dum. The man alleged that after consuming the coffee prepared by the woman inside the hotel room, he fell unwell and lost consciousness. Hours later, he regained consciousness to find his mobile phone, money, and bag missing. The woman had disappeared as well,” the officer said.

With the help of hotel authorities, the man filed a complaint at the airport police station on July 27, he said, adding that following the complaint, police collected CCTV footage from the hotel and began tracing the woman using her phone number.

“Our officers posed as potential grooms and contacted her. Using mobile tower location tracking, the woman was eventually arrested. Upon interrogation, she revealed the identity of her accomplice, a young man who was arrested from the Dum Dum Cantonment area,” he said.

Investigations revealed that the person was a Bangladeshi national, and police seized his Bangladeshi passport and visa from his possession.

“The woman said she would hand over the stolen items to the Bangladeshi man, who would return to Bangladesh. We are probing whether more people are connected to this cross-border racket or not,” he added.