Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police, has arrested five Nigerian footballers and two others for their alleged involvement in cheating people from different places in Dhaka recently.

Acting on secret information, a CID team carried out simultaneous drives at Bashundhara and Khilkhet Lake City areas on February 2 and arrested five Nigerian Footballers known as — Ogokhoya Onochi, 32, Maurice, 34, Obina, 35, Henry alias Short Henry 24, and Anthony Kezito Arrengi, 26. Teir two Bangladeshis associates are Md Kawsar Ahmed, and Raisul Islam Asad, said Molla Nazrul Islam, Special Super (Organised Crime) of the CID, reports the UNB.

Briefing reporters at the CID headquarters on Monday Mollah Nazrul Islam said, the detained Nigerians used to collect money using the bank accounts of the two detained Bangladeshis. He added that they have so far tracked 19 accounts, which have records of illegal transactions.

The five Nigerians have been playing football in the country for a football club. Earlier they played for Mohammedan and Abahoni sporting clubs. But now they are involved in various offences, Mollah Nazrul said.

He said Nadira Akhtar, a painting artiste, recently sent his paintings for a competition in England. Somehow, the fraud gang members came to know about her joining the competition and contacted her over phone mentioning that she won the competition and a parcel containing Tk. 3.15 crore reached Chittagong Port. 

In the name of getting the parcel released from the port the fraudsters made Nadira pay them Tk. 1.1 crore in phases. After realising that she was trapped, Nadira filed a cheating case with Banani police station on 22 November last year.

CID started investigation into the case after it was transferred from Banani police station.