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.