The Goregaon East police recently arrested three persons, including a Nigerian national, on charges of cheating a girl from Uttar Pradesh to the tune of Rs 2.85 lakh under the pretext of a lottery win. The police claim involvement of nine other accomplices of the trio in the case but they are at large.

As per the police, 24-year-old Pooja Shrivastav, a resident of Lucknow in UP, received an e-mail on December 27 last year saying that she had won an online lottery worth 50 lakh pounds (Rs 35 crore approximately). She was instructed to contact a mobile number in Nigeria, mentioned at the end of the e-mail, for availing the amount. “The victim made contact on the given mobile number and the person on the other end confirmed that she had won the lottery. However, Pooja was asked to pay Rs 1.15 lakh as security in the account of Dashesh Jhaveri (37) which she did,” said DCP (Zone 12) Ajit Patil.

A few days later, one Imanuel Idema Isuka alias Brown William (32), a resident of Mulund who is originally from Nigeria, reportedly contacted Pooja and told her that his colleagues would visit her soon with the amount she had won.

On May 23 this year, one King Okai alias Dane alias Danian visited Pooja’s home in Lucknow. He was carrying a briefcase which he claimed had the lottery amount. The bag had a digital lock, which Dane opened and removed a currency-sized bundle of black coloured papers. Dane then reportedly applied a solution on two black coloured papers which then turned into something that resembled 100 dollar notes. Pretending that the solution had dried up, he said he would have to go to Mumbai to buy it. He then took Rs 2.70 lakh from Pooja and left, promising to return.

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