BENGALURU: Sanjaynagar police have arrested 12 people for allegedly robbing a man of Rs 17.64 lakh after luring him with the promise of converting the money into USDT cryptocurrency.
According to police, the complainant, a resident of Devinagar in Kodigehalli, was planning to open a café on the Sira Highway and was searching online for kitchen tiles, cutlery and other equipment.
A friend reportedly informed him that such items could be purchased at lower prices from Japan and China through cryptocurrency payments. The complainant then learned about cryptocurrency trading from the same friend and joined a WhatsApp group related to USDT trading.
One of the group members contacted him and, on the night of June 8, successfully converted Rs 2.5 lakh into USDT at the complainant’s residence. Encouraged by the transaction, the complainant contacted the same person on WhatsApp the following day and sought to convert Rs 17.64 lakh into cryptocurrency.
The accused allegedly asked him to bring the cash to Kalpana Chawla Road in Sanjaynagar. The complainant arrived at the location with the money, accompanied by his brother and a friend. Police said the accused assaulted the trio, snatched the cash without transferring the promised cryptocurrency and fled.
The victim lodged a complaint the next day, following which the police registered a robbery case.
Police initially arrested four accused, who revealed the involvement of eight others during interrogation. Based on their leads, the remaining suspects were arrested and Rs 13.9 lakh in cash was recovered.
The accused, aged between 20 and 40 years and hailing from different parts of Bengaluru, had allegedly conspired to rob the complainant after learning that he would be carrying a large amount of cash for the cryptocurrency transaction, police said.