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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The police in India have arrested two Nigerians for allegedly cheating several Indian women on matrimonial applications.
The Nigerians, identified as Alex, 30, and Ibeh, 45, who were accused of cheating women for months in the name of sending and receiving gifts, were arrested in Delhi.
The police disclosed on Sunday that the accused posed as marine engineers and rich IT professionals to lure women on the app and extort money from them on the pretext of clearing customs fees for gifts.
“The accused, Alex (30) and Ibeh (45), have been cheating women for months in the name of sending/receiving gifts. The matter came to light when a 24-year-old woman, a resident of the President Estate area, alleged she lost Rs 4 lakh,” the police said.
A senior police officer, DCP Pranav Tayal, disclosed that “the woman told us she met a man named Aman Arora on a matrimonial site. He said he was a marine in the UK. They started talking on WhatsApp and the man told her he was coming to Mumbai to meet her.”
“On February 1, the woman said she received a call from Mumbai airport officials who told her that Aman had been detained for carrying 4,000 pounds and expensive items. She was asked to pay Rs 8,500 to “register” the valuables. The woman was then asked to spend more money in the name of securing the gifts and freeing Aman.
“She had paid Rs 4 lakh and got suspicious of the calls. She complained to us. Our teams immediately started analysing all the chats, transactions, IP addresses and call details,” Tayal added.
During the investigation, the police found the accused were associated with a gang operating from Greater Noida. Several teams were sent to nab the accused, locals were questioned and informers were deployed. After several raids, the accused were caught from their rented accommodation in Noida.
Alex was caught with the phone that was used during the offence. During interrogation, he revealed he came to India three years ago on medical visa. He and his associates had no work and started cheating people by faking marriage proposals or in the name of sending expensive gifts.
“They created fake profiles on social media posing as residents of the UK. They would then contact Indian women on apps and propose to them for marriage. After luring them with their fake lifestyle, they would take money on the pretext of custom clearances,” Tayal said.
Police said the accused had told the victim that he would soon shift to the USA and asked her to marry him.
Ibeh used to manage bank accounts for siphoning off the cheated amount. He was arrested with three ATM cards and Rs 10,000 of the cheated amount.
The police said the men worked with other gang members who were Nigerians and cheated multiple women.
Searches were being made on them and their phones were being analysed to trace more victims.
(Indian Express)