A 34-year-old woman of Malda was duped of Rs 15 lakh by a man she met on Facebook who introduced himself as a doctor from England.
Malda police arrested Nigerian national Benedict and his accomplice Golu Singh from Delhi on August 2 and brought the duo to Malda on Monday. They were sent to 14 days of police custody.
The money, however, is yet to be recovered.
Police sources said a woman from Mothabari area of Malda district filed a written complaint with the cyber crime police in Malda town in the end of 2021, stating that a man she met online at the start of 2021 duped her of Rs 15 lakh.
“It seems the person introduced himself as Donald David, a doctor from England. They apparently interacted frequently through various social networking sites and he proposed to marry her,” said a police source.
According to the complaint of the woman, who comes from an affluent family and lives with her parents, the person had said last year in August that he had reached India and would return to England after marrying her.
Soon the person claimed he had lost all his documents and asked her for money. He sent various bank accounts to which she transferred various sums of money totalling Rs 15 lakh in all.
“The person collected Rs 15 lakh. Some months later, the woman realised she had been duped after which she filed a police complaint,” said a source.
After months of investigation, police managed to identify one of the many bank accounts and blocked it. “A Malda police team then went to Delhi early this week and arrested a person identified as Golu Singh, who handled the financial side of the scam,” said a source.
Singh’s interrogation led police to the Nigerian national identified only as Benedict. “We went to his residence and seized his diary, cell phone, laptop and several bank documents,” said a police official.
Amit Kumar Shaw, the additional superintendent of police (headquarters), Malda, said: “We are trying to track the money that was duped.”