NOIDA: Three foreigners staying in Greater Noida have been arrested allegedly for being involved in cyber frauds and were found to have in their possession a fake passport made in the name of film star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, a senior police officer said on Friday.
The police had lodged an FIR of fraud on the complaint of a retired Army colonel who was duped of Rs 1.81 crore.
The investigation into the matter led to the three accused – two hailing from Nigeria and one from Ghana - the officer said.
Deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Abhishek Verma said during the arrest, police also recovered $3,000 (around Rs 2.5 lakh) and £ 10,500 (around Rs 10.60 lakh) from the three men's possession.
The police also seized fake Indian currency notes with face value of over 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 said.
"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 told reporters.
According to a police statement, the fake passport had a picture of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Those arrested have been identified as Eke Uferemvukwe, Okoloi Damion, both from Nigeria, and Adwin Collines, who is from Ghana, the police said.
The accused are hardcore cyber criminals who, along with their other associates, have been involved in various frauds and have duped gullible people on matrimonial sites, dating apps, social media sites, through lottery fraud, etc, the police said.
They had duped the retired Army colonel on the pretext of purchasing cancer treatment herbs from him, according to the police.
The police said they have seized six mobile phones, 11 SIM cards, laptops, printers, and some other gadgets used by the gang in criminal activities.
The police also impounded three cars belonging to the accused.
