Palakkad, Kerala: A man from Panamanna near Ottapalam was allegedly cheated in an online shopping scam after ordering a drone through social media, only to receive two bottles of drinking water instead. He suffered a loss of ₹2,200.

According to the victim, he came across a promotional video on a Facebook page named "Indo Gadgets", featuring a voice that appeared to belong to a Malayali, advertising a drone camera for ₹2,200, including courier charges.

Clicking on the Facebook link redirected him to a WhatsApp chat, where he was asked to provide his delivery address and a screenshot of the advance payment. He paid ₹200 as an advance by scanning a QR code sent through the chat.

Three days later, the courier arrived at his home, and he paid the remaining ₹2,000 to receive the package.

However, when he opened the cardboard box, he found that instead of the drone, it contained two bottles of drinking water carefully wrapped inside paper. The victim said he realised only after opening the parcel that he had been duped in an online scam.

In a separate development, Cyber police have arrested two Delhi natives in connection with an alleged attempt to dupe some Kerala MPs and an MLA by promising them ministerial berths in the state cabinet in return for Rs 3 crore.

The two accused-Nitin and Gaurav-were brought to Kozhikode from New Delhi on a transit remand on Sunday morning, an officer of the Kozhikode Cyber Police Station said.

They were arrested following a complaint by Elathur MLA K Vidya Balakrishnan, who alleged that a person posing as the private secretary to Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had called her and offered her a ministerial berth in exchange for Rs 3 crore, police said.

Similar calls were allegedly made to Kerala MPs Shafi Parambil and Dean Kuriakose.