2 Nigerians dupe women on pretext of marriage, arrested

New Delhi, March 12

Two Nigerian nationals were arrested for allegedly cheating women by proposing marriage and then taking money on the pretext of getting customs clearance for expensive gifts, police said on Sunday.

Alex (30) and 45-year-old Ibeh allegedly approached women on matrimonial sites and introduced themselves as marine engineers based in the UK, they said.

The matter came to light in February when a 24-year-old resident of the President’s Estate, Rashtrapati Bhawan, lodged a police complaint.

The victim alleged in her complaint that she connected with a man who introduced himself as Aman Arora, a marine engineer based in the UK, on a matrimonial site.

Shortly after, the victim started chatting with “Arora” on WhatsApp. During this time, he shared a London-Mumbai airline ticket.

Later, the victim got a call from a woman posing as a “Mumbai airport official” who told her that “Arora” had been detained for carrying 40,000 pounds, she alleged.

The woman asked the victim to pay Rs 8,500 as registration fee for valuable articles, the police said, adding that the complainant subsequently made several payments amounting to Rs 4 lakh.

On the basis of technical analysis, it was learnt that a gang of Nigerian nationals was operating from Greater Noida, Pranav Tayal, DCP, New Delhi, said. The suspects’ location was identified and a raid conducted on the Greater Noida society from where Alex was apprehended. The mobile phone used to commit the crime was also seized, he said. Alex’s associate Ibeh used to manage the bank accounts used to siphon off the money, he added. Ibeh was also arrested from Greater Noida.