The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested two Nigerians who reportedly duped over 30 people, five in Kolkata alone, of about Rs 40 lakh by promising them nonexistent Internet lottery wins. The arrests came after investigations on a tip-off from the Kolkata Police’s Detective Department, which had sought help from the Delhi Police following a complaint by a city woman.

While Earnest Ucheuna Ughabuga (31) and Anthony Obinawa (27) fell into the police net, a third man from West Bengal living in Delhi, who allegedly operated the bank account in which money was transferred, is absconding.

The Kolkata police started on the case when one Sunanda Banerjee filed a complaint saying she was duped of Rs 1.22 lakh after being told she had won a lottery of $50,000. “The Kolkata police have received more such complaints in the past fortnight. They sought our help after finding out that the trail led to Delhi,” Satyendra Garg, additional CP (Crime Branch), said.

Banerjee was informed through mail that she had won the lottery of Britain-based Shell Petroleum Development Company and was asked to deposit Rs 1.22 lakh as processing fee. She was also informed that company president Ben John Kennedy would come to India to hand over the prize money. She was asked to keep the information confidential until her claims had been processed and the money remitted to her account, Garg said.

“To process her claim, Banerjee was also asked to contact their claims manager on a mobile number. When she called, she was congratulated and requested to deposit the money in an Axis Bank account. After she deposited the money, she realised she had been fooled,” Garg said.

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