NEW DELHI: Two African nationals have been arrested for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of providing them oxygen cylinders, police said on Sunday.
The accused have been identified as Cheema Benneth (42), a native of Nigeria and Jonathan Kojo (44), a resident of Ghana, they said.
On May 5, a man told the police that he was in need of an oxygen cylinder for his relative who was suffering from COVID-19 and after finding a phone number on the social media, he contacted the accused who told him to pay Rs 16,000 for an oxygen cylinder and Rs 4,000 as transportation charge, following which the complainant transferred Rs 20,000 to their account, officials said.
The accused assured him that the cylinder would reach his address. However, the victim did not receive any cylinder and when he tried to contact the accused, they blocked his number, a senior police officer said.
“During investigation, it was found that foreign nationals were involved in the cheating racket spread across India. On Thursday, police apprehended Benneth from Green Park in south Delhi. Based on his disclosure, his associate Kojo was also also nabbed on Saturday,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shibesh Singh said.
22-year-old uses WhatsApp to dupe
Jai Kishan, 22, was on Sunday arrested for allegedly duping people on the pretext of providing oxygen cylinders to them via WhatsApp ad.