Earnest Ucheuna Ughabuga (31) and Anthony Obinawa (27) were caught following investigations into a tip off by the Kolkata police. Another man from West Bengal living in West Delhi, who allegedly operated the bank account in which money was transferred, is absconding.

The Kolkata police’s Detective Branch sought the help of the police here after they received a complaint from one Sunanda Banerjee, who was allegedly duped of Rs 1.22 lakh after being told she had won a lottery of US$ 50,000.

“The Kolkata police have received over 30 such complaints in the past fortnight. They sought our help after finding the trail led to Delhi,” Satyendra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police (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.

This, he said, the email explained was part of the company’s security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of their programme by others.

“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 ICICI account. After she deposited the money, she realised she had been fooled,” Garg said.

Ughabuga and Obinawa had come to India on student visas; Ughabuga reached the country on February 26 this year and Obinawa entered the country on January 10 this year. Ughabuga’s passport, laptop, data card, mobile phones and debit cards have been seized.