Four men in India, one of them a police driver, landed behind bars Thursday after they attempted to sell a "genie in a bottle" to an unsuspecting man in West Bengal's Burdwan city.
According to NDTV, the con began after Tapas Roy Choudhury, the victim, was informed by a friend that there was a merchant in Burdwan selling a $15,000 "ghost" that would grant the beholder's wishes. It was also during this conversation that the friend informed Choudhury he could personally introduce him to the seller — if he was interested.
Wanting to take a moment to wrap his head around the proposal, Choudhury then reached out to another friend of his, Basudeb Kundu, to discuss the matter. The two later decided to check out this magical wish-granting figure.
After scheduling a meeting, Choudhury and Kundu, originally from Baguiati, traveled to Burdwan to check out the so-called "ghost." Once they arrived in town, they were greeted by four men who escorted them to the seller's hotel room. The car they were driven in had a fake police sticker, the International Business Times UK reported.
Once Choudhury and Kundu entered the hotel room, things quickly went downhill.
According to reports, after Choudhury and Kundu were told that the genie was inside of a soda bottle, the four men demanded that Choudhury pay the full price of the item. When he told the group he did not have the funds, the schemers took all of the money that Choudhury and Kundu had in their possession and locked them in the hotel room.
With the bandits gone, Khaleej Times reported that Choudhury called another one of his friends in the area who in turn called in local law enforcement. Once the four men were arrested, officials discovered that one of the culprits was a police driver.
To no surprise, netizens have opinions on the case.
— Geaux Girl (@777GeauxJen) January 21, 2018
— superandrews (@superandrews13) January 21, 2018
On Friday, a day after being arrested, the four men were released on bail.
