Hyderabad: Two Nigerian nationals have been arrested by the city Police in New Delhi on Tuesday for duping three persons of Rs 49 lakh through the infamous `lottery scam'. Patrick Okwuokenye and Festus Iteh were arrested in Delhi last week, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma told reporters on Tuesday. Mahender Patel, a local, had complained to Mahankali Police here on October 28 that a woman called Asha Kiran told him and two others that she was going to receive USD 20 million as a lottery prize, and would pay them 2.5 per cent of the amount, if they paid her Rs 49 lakh which she had to deposit as processing fee. Asha Kiran had received an e-mail stating that she was a winner of lottery prize of USD 20 million.

"After she responded to the e-mail, the accused asked her to deposit some money as `processing fee'. She told Patel about this, who along with two others paid her Rs 49 lakh and out of this she transferred Rs 15.5 lakh to various accounts set up by the accused," said Sharma. A person called Michael, also a Nigerian, who is believed to be the ringleader, was yet to trace, he added.