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Nigerian held for extortion via fake Instagram accounts

The arrest was made by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police.

Nigerian held for extortion via fake Instagram accounts

[Representational Photo]

A Nigerian national has been arrested from Greater Noida for allegedly extorting money from people through fake Instagram profiles by obtaining their objectionable photographs, police said on Thursday.

The arrest was made by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police.

With the arrest of Evans, the police claimed to have busted an online extortion racket. The accused headed the gang which was operated by other Nigerians.

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According to an IFSO official, the gang created fake Instagram profiles, befriended gullible victims and later obtained obscene photographs from them.

The complainant alleged that his cousin was befriended by an unknown person on Instagram who later cheated her of Rs 2.25 lakh.

“The accused induced the victim to share her intimate photographs and videos, and later started threatening the victim to extort money,” an official said.

The accused also uploaded two objectionable videos on the social media site, he said.

A case was registered in the matter at the Police Station Special Cell.

Details of the fake Instagram account were obtained from Meta platforms, and after scrutiny, the location of the suspect was found in the Greater Noida area, and Evans was finally nabbed from Omicron 1 area.

The accused told the police that he landed in India three years ago on a business visa, and resided in several parts of Delhi NCR, frequently changing his addresses.

He revealed that he along with his brother, Sule, befriended a girl to obtain her private videos, and based on the same he extorted money from her and further deposited the sum into different accounts that were opened on the basis of fake documents.

The police are further probing the case, the IFSO official added.

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