A Tamil Nadu native was arrested on arrival at the Trivandrum International Airport for swindling Rs 67 lakhs from a Kozhikode man two years ago.

Mubashir Sheikh, from Jeeva Nagar in Vaniyambadi, Vellore, was taken into custody by the Kozhikode City Cyber Crime Police. The Airport Authority had alerted the police, as a lookout notice had been issued against Sheikh.

He had defrauded the massive sum by promising big profits from Forex trading. He had contacted the complainant through internet calls, introducing himself as a representative of Permanent Capital. The unsuspecting Kozhikode native deposited various sums into different accounts Sheikh provided.

When the Kozhikode man realised the fraud, he approached the Pantheerankavu Police with a complaint. The accused never used his mobile phone number for communication or his bank account for the transactions. “The case was complicated. The investigation team worked hard to reach the culprit by checking mobile contacts and e-mail interactions for the past two years,” said a Cyber police officer.

The police said Sheikh invested the money in the cryptocurrency trading company Binance. A team led by Inspector K R Renjith made the arrest. The Kozhikode Chief Judicial Magistrate remanded Sheikh to judicial custody for 14 days.