NEW DELHI: Seven members of an armed gang, including its kingpin, have been arrested for allegedly robbing a B.Tech student of Rs 1.83 lakh at gunpoint after he was lured through a fake cryptocurrency deal in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, police said on Thursday.
The kingpin, identified as Amit Jain (31) of Sadar Bazar, had suffered heavy losses to the tune of Rs 62 lakh in rice export business. His arrested accomplices are Amit alias Racer (29) & Preetpal (20) of Karala, Abhay (29) of Rohini, Nishant (29), Shivam (24) and Harsh (22).
The complainant, who had recently received a scholarship of `2 lakh, intended to invest the money in USDT (cryptocurrency). While browsing online, he came across a social media advertisement offering USDT at discounted rates. Finding the offer lucrative, he contacted the advertiser. He later fixed a meet near the Paschim Vihar East Metro Station for Sunday.
After the victim reached the location for the meeting with two of his friends, one of the accused men forced his way into their car while brandishing a pistol. Meanwhile, the other accused also surrounded his car from outside. The accused robbed Rs 1.83 lakh in cash and fled the spot.
The police were soon alerted about the incident. During the investigation, cops analysed footage from CCTV cameras installed on the spot and nearby areas. The investigators soon identified two of the accused as Amit and Preetpal. Multiple raids were conducted at their suspected hideouts and both were apprehended on Tuesday from Narela, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Sachin Sharma said. Four others accused in the case were also nabbed on Tuesday as the investigation progressed.
The probe found three brothers—Nishant, Shivam and Harsh—to be actively involved in the conspiracy and execution of the robbery. They were paid `10,000 each for committing the offence. Further investigation revealed that Amit Jain, who lives in Pahari Dhiraj, was the mastermind. He created fake social media pages to lure people with USDT. Jain, who was earlier been involved in rice export business, hatched the plan to cover the losses he had suffered.
He would coordinate with his accomplices to execute armed robberies at meet-up spots. It was on directions that the three brothers had acted as active conspirators in the crime. The looted amount was distributed equally among the gang members.
Jain was apprehended from Sadar Bazar. On verification, the gang was found to be involved in several similar cases across Delhi. Police recovered robbed Rs 1.45 lakh, a sophisticated pistol, three live cartridges, a car, two two-wheelers, a laptop, and 11 mobile phones from the accused.
Fake crypto deal offer
The gang lured the complainant through a fake cryptocurrency deal in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. The accused set up a meeting with the complainant, during which they forced entry into the latter’s car, held him at gunpoint and fled with Rs 1.83 lakh.