Bengaluru: A 35-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating senior citizens on the pretext of taking them to Prayagraj for the Mahakumbh Mela, police said on Monday.

Police suspect that Raghavendra Rao, who was a former journalist, had swindled more than Rs 70 lakh.

The accused allegedly lost the money he earned through cheating senior citizens in online betting, police said, adding he has installed three betting apps on his phone.

The matter came to light after those duped approached Govindarajanagar police station with complaints against Rao, police said.

At least 21 such complaints were registered against him at the same police station, they added.

According to the police, the accused, who recently ventured into tourism business, put up posts on Facebook where he lured people with attractive seven days trip to pilgrimage trips covering places like Ayodhya, Varanasi and Prayagraj.

When he started out, as promised, he took some of them to the trip and also posted pictures of it on his social media account. Later, several senior citizens approached him for the same, a senior police officer said.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that Rao used to charge Rs 49,000 for seven days trip. After collecting required amount for the package, he booked air tickets for his customers and sent it to them, he said.

However, later, he cancelled their tickets and stopped picking up their calls or switched off his cell phone, he added.