Noida gang that duped people on pretext of investing in crypto busted

The suspects wanted to live a lavish life and go clubbing in Delhi and the National Capital Region, said police. They made a Telegram group to dupe people

Three people were arrested in Noida on Sunday for robbing a Moradabad college student of ₹5 lakh on the pretext of investing his money in cryptocurrency, police said.

The suspects were identified as Nishant Chouhan, 25, Gaurav Bhati, 24, and Sagar Bhati, aka Shanky, 25, all residents of Salarpur in Noida Sector 49. (Representational image)

The suspects were identified as Nishant Chouhan, 25, Gaurav Bhati, 24, and Sagar Bhati, aka Shanky, 25, all residents of Salarpur in Noida Sector 49, said police, adding that a fourth unidentified suspect is yet to be arrested.

Police recovered ₹4.5 lakh cash, two country-made pistols, four live cartridges, and a Tata Nexon car from the suspects’ possession. Police said that the suspects have duped several other people in a similar manner and investigation is underway to determine how many.

The complaint in this case was registered by Atin Saxena, 25, a resident of Moradabad. “Saxena said that he came in contact with the suspects through one of his friends. He took a loan of ₹5 lakh to invest in cryptocurrency,” said Anuj Kumar, station house officer of the Sector 49 police station.

On Friday he came to hand over ₹5 lakh cash to the suspects in Sector 48. “As soon as he handed over the bag containing the cash, the suspects fled in their car. He then approached the Sector 49 police station with a complaint. The suspects were arrested from Sector 47 on Sunday,” added Kumar.

During questioning, it was revealed that Nishant made a plan with his friends to dupe people, said police. “The suspects wanted to live a lavish life and go clubbing in Delhi and the National Capital Region. They made a Telegram group and started luring people to invest in cryptocurrency. The suspects revealed that they had duped many people previously. Investigation is underway to gather evidence of their previous frauds,” said Kumar.