Ahmedabad’s cybercrime branch has arrested five individuals from Jamnagar for allegedly working with a Nigeria-based cyberfraud syndicate. The accused, all local residents, reportedly played a key role in a sophisticated scam that promised Indian victims massive profits on inflated medicine purchases.
The arrested include Deep Goswami (25), Asgar Pathan (43), Abhishek Joshi (26), Pravin Nandaniya (30), and Nitin Bhatiya (26), police confirmed. Deep Goswami, the main accused, had previously been arrested in a similar Nigeria-linked cyberfraud case in 2021.
According to Cybercrime ACP Hardik Makadia, Goswami maintained contact with the mastermind in Lagos, Nigeria. The arrested group allegedly helped the gang by withdrawing victims’ money and transferring it to Nigerian accounts, earning 7–10% commission per transaction. Multiple bank accounts were used to obscure the money trail.
The case came to light after Nihar Varma (26), a businessman from Maninagar, reported that he had been approached online by “Westland Veterinary International,” claiming to be from Ghana. The company requested Indian suppliers for Eupatorium Mercola liquid, a homoeopathic medicine for malaria and dengue treatment.
Varma was instructed to buy one litre of the medicine from Sharma Enterprises Manufacturing at $6,500 per litre and send it to Delhi for testing. Once approved, he was told he could sell it at $11,000 per litre for profit. Trusting the instructions, Varma transferred Rs 27 lakh in advance to Sharma Enterprises, only to later discover the company did not exist.
Police investigations revealed that the Nigerian gang operated through local agents. The accused opened bank accounts under multiple company names, received funds, withdrew money via ATMs, and transferred it to the Nigerian masterminds. All five arrested have been remanded to police custody for two days, and further investigations are ongoing to identify other accomplices.
