Pune: Two Nigerian nationals were today arrested for allegedly duping a 64-year-old widow to the tune of over Rs 94 lakh on the pretext of marrying her, police said.
The Cyber Cell of city police arrested the accused – Caleb Mezie Ogbuagu (28) and Victor Chigozie Ezuruikie (37), both residents of Noida in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
“The duo had come to India on a business visa and started duping people by sending them friend requests on social media sites and matrimonial sites,” Sunil Pawar, police inspector of Cyber cell, said.
“We have recovered three laptops, seven cell phones, internet cards, multiple SIM cards from their possession,” he added.
A few months back, the woman complainant had received a friend request from the accused, who posed as one Harley Benson. He told the woman that he was an engineer from the UK.
“After some days, the person expressed his wish to marry her and even told her that he was ready to relocate to India,” Pawar said.
He added that the woman, who is retired, used to work as a teacher and was associated with a central government institute in Pune. She had lost her husband in 2014.
In July this year, Benson called the woman and informed her that he is relocating to Pune.
“A couple of days later, he again called her and told that the Customs had caught him at Delhi airport and seized his bag, containing gold, diamonds and pounds and demanding fine from him. He requested her to pay the money for fine and asked her to deposit the money into various accounts,” he said.
The unsuspecting complainant deposited money into various accounts given by the suspects and ended up losing Rs 94.5 lakh to the fraudsters, the officer said.
After realising that she has been duped, the woman then approached police and registered a complaint.
Based on the complaint, the accused were arrested from New Delhi on Sunday and remanded in police custody.