Six persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly robbing a businessman of ₹36 lakh on the pretext of trading in digital currency Bitcoin. The gang included a law graduate and his girlfriend.
The accused were identified as Aditya Rajput alias Yashashvi Sharma, Priya Thakur alias Karishma Rajput, Sandeep Chauhan, Devender Chauhan, Karamvir Singh, and Kunal Sharma. They were arrested for allegedly abducting the victim and taking him to Vaishali before robbing him of the money.
They also allegedly threatened the victim with dire consequences if he reported the matter to the police. The victim approached the police in August after which probe was taken up.
The complainant told the police that he had made his profile on localbitcoins.com, after which he was contacted by Karishma, who told him that she was a Bitcoin dealer. “The complainant showed an interest in buying the digital currency and was told that it’s available at ₹72,000 per Bitcoin,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo.
Called to mall
On April 7, the victim was called to a mall in Nirman Vihar to make the transaction. When the victim arrived with the bag of cash, the woman, along with others in the gang, forced him into an SUV on the pretext of taking him to a client in Vaishali, where he was robbed, the police said.
“Four members of the gang were arrested on September 2,” said Mr. Deo. The police recovered the stolen cash and seized motorcycles used in the commission of the crime.
Priya alias Karishma and Yashasvi alias Aditya, a law graduate, were arrested on September 27. During questioning,they also gave away the name of the gang’s leader, Amandeep Singh. The police are now on the lookout for him.
