Noida, March 5: Noida Police on Sunday arrested six foreigners for duping “hundreds of women” whom they contacted through dating apps like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, an official said.
Among those held are five Nigerian nationals and a Bhutanese woman and their victims also included some from European countries. One of their recent victims was a journalist working with a news channel in Noida film city, police said.
The accused men are natives of Delta state in Nigeria and had arrived in India in 2021 on education and medical visas for a period of six months. The Bhutanese woman is from Trongsa and was married to one of the accused men, thus becoming a gang member.
However, they were currently living in the Supertech Golf Country along the Yamuna Expressway without valid documents, according to police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Harish Chander said the gang was busted after an FIR was lodged at the Sector 20 police station over a complaint of fraud by a woman residing in the city. These people used dating apps to get in touch with women and identified themselves as doctors residing in countries like the Netherlands and the US among others, Chander said.
“They would talk to women and take them into confidence after expressing interest in a relationship and marriage. Suddenly, they would inform them that they have arrived in India with a lot of cash in foreign currency and have been caught by the customs official, urging their help in securing their release.
They would seek some fund transfer which they promised to return. Nut the story would turn out to be false and the women would later realise that they had been duped, Chander said. (PTI)