The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Ahmedabad City police Tuesday detained three men who allegedly kidnapped a youth in a bid to steal cryptocurrency worth around Rs 43 lakh from his digital wallet. Officers said the men were held following a chase over several hours in the morning.
A statement from the DCB identified the victim as Prince Pandey, the son of a retired Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Army. Ajit Rajian, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime, said Prince was severely assaulted and was admitted to a hospital for treatment.
The police said that at around 2 am on July 15, the accused called Prince from his friend’s mobile phone and asked him to meet them near Bapunagar toll naka. There, they put him in the back of a car without registration plates and with black film on its windows, and drove away, officers said.
The abductors then allegedly asked Pandey to pay them 50,000 USDT (Tether), a cryptocurrency, which is worth Rs 42.90 lakh in Indian rupees. The police statement said that since Prince did not give them the password to his digital wallet, they continuously assaulted him in the moving vehicle while driving it across the city.
When his father Pankajkumar Pandey learned about the abduction, he immediately informed the police. The night team of the Crime Branch was soon alerted, officers said.
With the aid of CCTV footage, human intelligence and technical analysis, the investigators managed to locate the vehicle and rescue Prince. Action is underway against the accused, they added.
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