Two Nigerian nationals have been arrested for allegedly duping over 50 persons of several lakhs of rupees in Uttar Pradesh, India, police said on Monday, April 3.

A team of Sitapur police arrested the suspects identified as Emanuel Anidke and Uzona Ajij, on Sunday evening, April 2, from Noida.

The accused allegedly contacted gullible targets through social media posing as US nationals who wanted to set up bases in India and were stuck at the airport for clearance of their consignments caught in customs, said the police.

The police said the accused would later seek money from individuals promising them to repay the amount in dollars and would do the disappearing act once they got the help," said Sitapur additional SP (south) NP Singh.

Police said that the two Nigerians were staying in India after their study visa had expired last year and were indulging in crime to make money.

The duo claimed to have duped 50 residents of India staying in different states of Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, Bihar and Maharashtra.

The Sitapur police had got on the case after local constable Padam Prakash deployed in Khairabad was swindled of Rs 75,000 by the gang.

Police traced the whereabouts of the caller based on surveillance, local tip-off and the bank where the cop had deposited the money. The person was identified to be from Sikkim.

"We rounded him up and he spilled the beans that he was asked by the two Nigerians to use his bank account for which he was also given commission. A team reached and nabbed the two from Sector-18, Noida," said a source privy to the probe.

The Nigerians use bank accounts of those from the North-East because they have names resembling theirs, said the police.

In his complaint to the police, constable Prakash said that he got a friend request on his Instagram account by a businessman named Frank from Houston in US in January 2023.

After Prakash confirmed the request, he disclosed that he was a native of the United States and wanted to settle in India.

"Over a period they became good friends and on March 17, I received a call from Frank that he had arrived at Delhi airport carrying a lot of US dollar bills, for which a clearance fee of Rs 75,000 had to be paid, to the customs," Prakash said in the complaint.

Later, Prakash said that he got a call from an Indian number, and the caller who identified himself as a customs official told him that his friend needs to be given Rs 75,000 for a clearance.

"I was so assured that I paid the amount and thereafter, the account and the phone numbers got blocked," he said. Sensing foul play, I informed the cyber cell and got an FIR lodged," he said.

On March 6, the Noida police had busted a Nigerian gang of six people who were operating from a call centre and were cheating women through dating apps.

Superintendent of police, cyber cell, Triveni Singh, who has been working on the Nigerian gangs for the last decade said that gangs make their profile on social media posing as American citizens.

"They have developed a trick to dupe Indian citizens by forging emotional bonds and winning the trust of gullible victims they meet on dating and matrimonial apps," said the officer.

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