Guwahati: Some became friends on social media sites or met during prayer meets in New Delhi and gradually became "partners" of their African friends' criminal gangs, now targeting youths back in their own states in the Northeast.

At least eight women from the Northeast are wanted by the crime branch of Delhi police for their alleged involvement in cheating rackets run by African nationals.

Sources said this came to light following the arrest of at least five Nigerian nationals in New Delhi this year so far.

"Such criminal gangs adopt several modus operandi. Sometime they post photographs of handsome boys in social media sites, become friends with girls in the Northeast, chat for some weeks or months, exchange photographs and then blackmail them to leak intimate photographs and demand money. They offer expensive gifts through Facebook or Instagram and ask them to deposit money as clearance fees and once the money is deposited in their bank account, they block them. Many women in the Northeast have fallen victim and got duped when such gangs offered cars or diamond sets as prizes of Internet-based lottery and deposit-processing fees, between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh. We have made several appeals to look out for such criminal gangs but the women from small towns in the Northeast still fall victim," said a source in Delhi police.

Women from small towns like Tezu and Daporijo in Arunachal Pradesh, Zunheboto in Nagaland, Tura in Meghalaya, Kokrajhar in Assam, Lunglei in Mizoram and Churachandpur in Manipur have fallen victim to the criminal gangs.

"They probably collect information from their women partners from the Northeast and target a rich widow or women whose husbands work elsewhere or girls looking for NRI grooms. We have identified at least eight women from the Northeast who are part of such criminal gangs," said the source.

One of the victims had even attempted suicide recently after the criminals sent her private photographs to her family after she refused to pay money to them. "We have got three such cases recently in which the fraudsters sent private photographs of women from well-to-do and respected families in the Northeast to their family members," said the police source.

The issue came up for discussion after Robin Hibu, inspector-general of Delhi police, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, met crime branch officials on Wednesday.

"The crime branch officials told me that they are keeping watch on some women from the Northeast who live in areas like Vasant Vihar, Mahipalpur, Munirka, Safdarjung Enclave, Kotla, Khirki and Hauz Khas. Apart from awareness against such criminal gangs, we need to take strict action against those aiding such criminals," Hibu, who also leads Helping Hands, an NGO, said.