Lucknow : In a first-of-its-kind incident recorded in the state capital, three people kept a real-estate businessman prisoner and demanded ₹1.3 crore in bitcoins before releasing him. The police apprehended three people, Sandeep Pratap Singh, Vijay Pratap Singh, and Rajveer Singh. According to police, the apprehended suspects were aware that the victim dealt in cryptocurrencies. They were found with ₹ 30,000 in cash, a country-made pistol, three live cartridges, five mobile phones, and a car.
According to police, on August 7, the three abducted Arjun Bhargava of Indraprasth Grand near Kalindi Park in Vrindavan Yojana under the guise of offering him a plot of land in Barabanki.
They took him captive in a residence, assaulted him, trained a gun on him, and received ₹ 1.3 crore in bitcoins in exchange. According to DCP (East Zone) Prachi Singh, the abductors met Bhargava and brought him to Barabanki while pretending to be real estate agents.
They bound his hands and legs and carried him to a residence in Barabanki where they tortured him for three hours, Singh added.
According to the officer, the victim’s wife, Nidhi Bhargava, stated in the FIR that abductors kept him at gunpoint and forced him to provide the password before transferring all the bitcoins to their account.
They also compelled my husband to put the money into their bank account and opened fire when he refused. He escaped unscathed. They then drove him back to Lucknow and abandoned him on the side of the road,” she stated. DCP Singh stated that police were tipped off by an informer about the miscreants who abducted the businessman a week ago in a car bearing the high court plate. We set a trap and caught them on Tuesday, when they went to the Kalindi Park locality, most likely to collect additional money from the businessman,” according to the police officer.
