Indore Fake Crime Branch Robbery: Six Held For Allegedly Looting ₹7 Lakh In USDT Trap

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A group of six men allegedly used a fake Crime Branch identity to rob a man of Rs 7 lakh in the Palasia area. Police claimed that the suspects have been arrested within 36 hours. Interestingly, one of the suspects identified himself as an advocate.

The suspects reportedly planned the robbery at a cafe near Bengali Square and used a USDT trading deal to lure the complainant to an isolated location.

DCP (Zone-3) Abhishek Ranjan said that the complainant, identified as Abhay Tiwari, was contacted on the pretext of providing him USDT worth around Rs 7 lakh.

He was asked to bring cash and meet the suspects near Saket Square. After reaching the area, the suspects allegedly took him to an isolated place on the pretext of counting the money.

There, some members of the group allegedly introduced themselves as Crime Branch officials, and they allegedly started assaulting him. They then allegedly took Rs 7 lakh from him and fled the scene.

Following the complaint, the teams led by Palasia police station in-charge Surendra Singh Raghuvanshi were formed by the officials to immediately identify and arrest the suspects.

Six teams were formed under the supervision of senior officers. Police first prepared sketches based on the description provided by the complainant and examined CCTV footage and technical evidence.

During the investigation, police found that some suspects frequently visited the cafe near Bengali Square.

The movements of two suspects, identified as Ayush and Kuldeep, were examined. Technical evidence reportedly showed that both were present around the location at the time of the incident.

The suspects initially tried to mislead the police and denied their involvement.

However, police continued tracking their movements. On Friday, when a police team approached the suspects near the Khajrana service road, two of them allegedly tried to escape on a scooter.

They lost control and fell from the scooter. Both sustained injuries and were taken to MY Hospital for treatment.

During questioning and after their identities were matched with CCTV and technical evidence, they allegedly revealed details of the robbery plan.

The two suspects were identified as Shashank Pardesi and Vishal Sharma. During interrogation, they allegedly named their associates as advocate Ashutosh Pradhan, Deepesh Solanki, Ayush Singh Panwar and Kuldeep Singh Thapa.

Police said the group had planned to escape towards Sanwaria Seth after learning that Shashank and Vishal had been caught.

However, since their movements were already being monitored, the remaining suspects were intercepted near the railway station and arrested.

Police also recovered part of the cash allegedly looted from the complainant.

The suspects reportedly told police that some of the money was still with them, following which they were taken into police custody for further questioning. Police are also searching for another suspect, Monu alias Vivek Pardesi.

During questioning, Shashank allegedly told police that his brother Monu had informed him about Abhay Tiwari, who was involved in USDT trading and needed around 6,000 to 7,000 USDT.

The suspects allegedly decided to gain Abhay's trust by discussing the USDT deal over WhatsApp calls and, if necessary, making a small USDT transfer to convince him that the deal was genuine.

The group then allegedly decided to call Abhay to Saket Square with cash on the pretext of completing the USDT transaction.

Shashank and Vishal were supposed to meet him and take him to a nearby isolated lane under the excuse of counting the cash.

At that point, Ashutosh and Deepesh allegedly arrived pretending to be Crime Branch officers. Shashank and Vishal were then supposed to run away, making the victim believe that a genuine Crime Branch raid had taken place.

According to police, Ayush and Kuldeep were positioned nearby to support the suspects if the situation became difficult. The six arrested suspects have been identified as Ayush Singh Panwar, Kuldeep Singh Thapa, Vishal Sharma, Shashank Pardesi, Deepesh Solanki and Ashutosh Pradhan.