The Pune city police arrested five people this week for allegedly abducting a 26-year-old share trading coach from Pune’s Bavdhan and stealing cryptocurrency worth Rs 16 lakh from him at knifepoint last month, officials said on Thursday.
The police identified the accused as Mayur Kailas Amodkar, 25, Manish Rajendra Bhonde, 24, Bhushan Gokul Koli, 27, Jitendra Pradip Wagh, 33, and Chandrakant Ramesh Deshmukh, 34, all residents of Jalgaon.
According to the police, on July 22, the accused approached the coach seeking information about his stock market course. They then allegedly asked him to accompany them, saying they wanted guidance to invest in shares and took him in a car from Balewadi to Shikrapur.
Threatening to kill him with a knife, the accused allegedly snatched the man’s mobile phone and forcibly transferred his USDT cryptocurrency estimated at Rs 16,02,510 to his USDT ‘deposit address’ using a mobile app. The accused then released the share trading coach at around 6 pm, three hours after they abducted him, the police said.
The victim then lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Chaturshringi police station.
Following an investigation, a team led by Pranil Chougule, Sub-Inspector, initially arrested Amodkar and Bhonde from Jalgaon. Three other accused were arrested later for their alleged involvement in the crime.
The police said the stolen cryptocurrency worth Rs 7.94 lakh has been recovered. The car and knife used by the accused for allegedly committing the offence have also been seized, a press release issued by Mahesh Bolkotgi, Senior Police Inspector, said on Thursday. “The accused have been arrested this week and are currently under magisterial custody as per the orders of a court,” Bolkotgi said.
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