Odisha
Crime Branch, India on Tuesday, December 18, arrested two persons,
including a Nigerian national on charges of duping a woman from the
State on the pretext of sending her a very costly gift from London,
police said.The two accused, identified as Nwabueze Chukwudi Vincet (35)
of Nigeria and Piyush Arya (22) of East Babarpur of the national
capital, had taken Rs 41 lakh from the woman, a native of Puri, between
June and August this year.According to police, Chukwudi had opened a
fake Facebook profile in the name of Oscar David and then befriended the
Odisha woman. The duo kept on chatting for a few months and eventually
the woman started taking the foreigner’s words seriously.
Taking
this as an opportunity, the Nigerian national lured the woman by saying
he can send her costly gifts from London at cheap rates. Convinced, the
woman had deposited the amount in different bank accounts shared by
Chukwudi between June and August, police said.The woman, who didn’t want
to be named, never met the Nigerian national nor talked to him over
phone, a police official said.After realizing that she has been duped,
the woman lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch in August. Following
this, a case was registered on August 21.“After registering the case we
had been tracking the bank transactions and we came to know that the
Nigerian national is operating a huge gang. He has opened several bank
accounts to carry out such activities,” said Crime Branch Cyber Cell’s
Inspector Anila Anand.
The
Odisha police brought the duo to Bhubaneswar on three-day remand for
interrogation and produced before Puri Sub Divisional Judicial
Magistrate (SDJM) court.They were produced before the court of
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) at Dwarka Court, which
allowed the Crime Branch to take them on transit remand.Further
investigation is underway.
