Nigerian who amassed Rs. 24L running matrimonial scam detained under PD Act in Rachakonda

Hyderabad: An international cyber fraudster from Nigeria was detained under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act in the limits of the Rachakonda police commissionerate on Tuesday. Fedelis Obinna has been detained in Central Prison, Chenchalguda, Hyderabad.

Earlier this year, Fedelis along with his close associate Anil Kumar Pandey was arrested in New Delhi on 18 July for luring people in the guise of providing foreign funds and gifts.

Fidelis came to India three years ago on a tourist Visa and worked in hotels, restaurants, and shops for some time. He along with his associates had opened several accounts with photos of Europeans on matrimonial websites like shaadi.com and Bharat Matrimony and introduced himself with fake names. He showed interest in marriage alliances and started chatting with women on WhatsApp.

After gaining their confidence, he told them he was sending them gifts. Later, he called the victims impersonating a Customs official and told them a parcel in their name containing forbidden articles was with them. The victims were asked to pay some charges to release the parcel. He also threatened them saying that if they did not pay the taxes, criminal cases would be booked against them. The victims were forced to transfer funds to the account numbers online.

In this way, the accused had cheated many people all over India and amassed around Rs. 24,50,000. Four cases had been registered against him in the Rachakonda cyber crime police station.

With a view to prevent him from indulging in such criminal activities and to preserve public order, Rachakonda police invoked the PD Act against him and lodged him in Central Prison, Chenchalguda, on Tuesday.