Thiruvananthapuram: Four people from Bihar were arrested by Kerala police on Monday for allegedly duping a woman from the state out of over Rs one crore after telling her that she had won an online lottery. A Crime Branch special team investigating economic offences nabbed the accused from Ranchi in Bihar and seized 28 mobile phones, 85 ATM cards, eight sim cards, laptops, checkbooks and passbooks of various banks and Rs 1.25 lakh in cash.

State police said the accused duped the woman by telling her that she won a lottery through a Snapdeal lucky draw and sought money under the pretext of a service charge. "The accused received Rs 1.12 crore from the woman through multiple transactions and withdrew the money instantly," police said in a statement.

Police said the accused have committed similar crimes across the country. "The investigation team had traced over one thousand phone calls and over 250 bank accounts and zeroed in on the accused in Ranchi," the release said. The accused will be produced before a court in Bihar and then brought to Kerala, police added. Police urged the public to contact the cyber police helpline number '1930' to report such financial crimes.  

(With PTI inputs)