KATHMANDU: Metropolitan Police Crime Division on Thursday arrested two persons for allegedly defrauding unwary persons of Rs 12.2 million.

The suspects have been identified as Rajendra Bhandra, 44, of Kaski district and Rojan Bhujel, 28, of Kathmandu district. According to Metropolitan Police Crime Division, the duo befriended various persons on Facebook posing as a British national 'Dr Benjamin Franklin, a surgeon' and lured the victims to deposit cash in their account under various pretext.

One of them would ask the unsuspecting persons stating that 'he was robbed off all belongings in Malaysia and would provide them double the amount deposited in his bank account after he returns to the United Kingdom'. Police have found a total of Rs 7.8 million in the bank account of Bhandari alone, which he might have collected from the victims on various context. Officials at the MPCD said that further investigation was launched into the case and action would be taken against them. A version of this article appears in the print on December 4, 2021 of The Himalayan Times.