Kolkata police arrest Pune man for running fake hotel booking websites, 83 victims duped

Kolkata Police have arrested a Pune-based man in connection with a nationwide online hotel booking fraud that duped unsuspecting customers by using fake websites resembling reputed hotels, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, 41-year-old Huzaifa Shabbir Darbar , was arrested from his office in Pune on January 27 following a joint raid conducted by Kolkata Police with assistance from local police authorities. Investigators said Darbar was actively involved in running the scam, which targeted travellers looking to book hotels in popular tourist destinations.

Police said the accused and his associates allegedly created multiple fake hotel booking websites using copied photographs, fabricated room details and deceptive layouts to appear legitimate. Victims were induced to make payments on the assurance of confirmed reservations that never existed.

According to investigators, as many as 83 people were cheated , with the total amount siphoned off estimated at Rs 13.6 lakh . A case was registered on July 18 at the Cyber Police Station in Kolkata under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 .

One of the victims, a Kolkata resident, attempted to book a hotel room in Puri through a website that appeared genuine. He was initially asked to make a nominal payment of Re one as a verification step and was later persuaded to transfer additional amounts through UPI after being told that earlier transactions had failed. After the full payment was made, no booking confirmation was received and all subsequent calls went unanswered.

The victim later reported the matter to the national cybercrime helpline and his local police station. During the probe, cyber police issued notices to banks, telecom companies and domain service providers, which revealed that the fake websites were hosted on overseas domain platforms. Technical analysis linked the operations to email IDs, mobile numbers and IP addresses allegedly used by the accused.

Based on the findings, court permission was obtained to conduct raids at Darbar’s residence and office in Pune. During the searches, police seized a mobile phone, a laptop and a pen drive containing electronic data. During interrogation, the accused admitted his role in the fraud, officials said.

The arrest was carried out on the basis of a warrant issued by a Kolkata court, and all legal procedures were followed, including informing the accused and his family of the grounds of arrest. Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the racket and to determine the full scale of the operation.