Three foreigners staying in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh were arrested on suspicion of cyber fraud and in possession of a forged passport in the name of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, news agency PTI reported on Friday citing some official sources.
The police had filed a fraud charge after receiving a complaint from a former Army colonel who had been scammed out of Rs 1.81 crore.
According to the officer, the investigation led to the three suspects - two from Nigeria and one from Ghana.
Abhishek Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida), stated that during the arrest, police found USD 3,000 (about Rs 2.5 lakh) and 10,500 pounds (approximately Rs 10.60 lakh) in the three men's possession, PTI reported.
The police also confiscated fake Indian currency notes with a face value of approximately Rs 10.76 crore, in addition to dozens of bundles of fake US dollar and British pound bills, he said.
“The case of fraud with the retired Army officer was thoroughly investigated and three main accused in the case – all foreign nationals – have been arrested,” Verma was quoted as saying by PTI.
“When their laptops and computers were examined during further investigation, we found fake visa and fake passport copies from them. One of the fake passports purportedly had the picture of a popular Indian actress,” the officer added further.
According to police, the bogus passport featured an image of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
According to the police, those arrested include Eke Uferemvukwe, and Okoloi Damion, both from Nigeria, and Adwin Collines, who is from Ghana.
The accused are serious cyber criminals who, together with their other associates, have been involved in different scams and have fooled unsuspecting people on matrimonial sites, dating apps, social media sites, lottery fraud, etc, according to the police.
According to investigators, they defrauded the retired Army colonel by pretending to buy cancer treatment herbs from him.
According to the police, they seized six mobile phones, 11 SIM cards, laptops, printers, and other items utilised by the gang in illicit activity.
The police also seized three of the accused's vehicles.
(With Inputs From PTI)