New Delhi
Seven members of an organised Delhi-based syndicate, including its kingpin, were arrested for allegedly luring cryptocurrency investors under the guise of discounted deals, setting up physical meetings and robbing them at gunpoint, Delhi Police said on Thursday.
The police made the arrests while investigating a robbery case, wherein a 21-year-old engineering student of Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology in Dwarka was robbed of ₹1.83 lakh—part of a ₹2 lakh scholarship he received—that he wanted to invest in the USDT cryptocurrency for a business venture.
The student, upon coming across an advertisement on Instagram offering a lucrative USDT deal, set up a meeting with the advertiser last Sunday near the Paschim Vihar East Metro Station, but was robbed, said deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sachin Sharma.
“On the scheduled date, the complainant arrived at the designated location along with his two friends. During the meeting, one of the accused forcibly entered the complainant’s car and brandished a pistol, while his six accomplices surrounded his car from outside. The student was threatened and robbed of ₹1.83 lakh he was carrying to buy crypto currency,” the DCP said.
Police said they identified two suspects, Amit alias Racer and Preetpal alias Anum, through digital surveillance and arrested them on Tuesday. They recovered ₹56,000, a pistol with three cartridges, a car, a scooter and four mobile phones from them.
Their interrogation led to the arrest of five more members of the syndicate, including the kingpin Amit Jain and three brothers, Nishant aka Nikhil, Shivam alias Golu and Harsh alias Hency. The fifth suspect was identified by a single name, Abhay. Five mobile phones, ₹40,000 cash and a motorcycle were recovered from them, the police said. They are all aged between 22 and 31, the police said.
Jain, a resident of Delhi’s Pahari Dheeraj, suffered a loss of ₹62 lakh in a rice export business and decided to rob people through such schemes, DCP Sharma said.
“Jain coordinated with his accomplices to execute armed robberies at pre-decided meeting locations. As per his directions, the three brothers acted as active conspirators in the commission of the crime. The looted amount was distributed equally among the key members of the gang. They were involved in three similar crimes registered at Delhi’s Netaji Subhash Place, Budh Vihar and Shahabad Dairy police stations,” he said.
