In Brief:
- Hyderabad-based victim complaints of dacoity and crypto scam by an acquaintance in Surat.
- Accused and eight others charged under IPC 395 for Offence of Dacoity, now fled but captured in CCTV.
The police had received a call about an alleged robbery at an angadia firm that led them to a wild goose chase but without official complaints, they were about to close the matter as a hoax call.
However, it turned out to be a dacoity on the name of crypto investment when the Hyderabad-based victim filed an official complaint based on which police registered IPC 395, Offence of Dacoity against Pintoo Kumar Jha, Amit, Suman Singh among others, according to reports.
The incident began in Hyderabad when an auto parts businessman, Vinaj Jain, came in contact with Lakshminarayan in Hyderabad who, as claimed, deals in cryptocurrency. The latter lured Vinay Jain, the complainant, to invest in crypto for better returns and after agreeing, introduced to Pintoo Kumar Jha, the accused.
After a few meetings with the accused, Jain with three others came to Surat before which he deposited Rs. 6 Crore ($0.8 Million) in an angadia firm which he later collected back in Surat, of which used Rs. 2 Crore ($0.3 Million) for the purpose of creating his crypto account in an angadia firm named ‘Shree Siddhi Vinayak Enterprise’ in Varachha.
When Jain transferred the cash to Jha, there was no trace of transfer in his crypto account for a long time, and on further questioning and waiting for the same, Jain was thrashed by about eight others who joined in on the argument with Jha. The accused had fled the commotion before police arrived.
“It was a pre-plan by the accused to beat them up and steal the cash. Jain and the other three left the city after the incident and reached Mumbai. However, they decided to file a police complaint and returned again to Surat on Saturday and filed a complaint, “ police stated.
According to Chainalysis’ report on global crypto crimes, crypto scams snatched around $14 billion in 2021. Scammers have been contacting potential crypto enthusiasts through many social media platforms which includes scam websites that attracted 9.6 Million Indians in 2021.
