Man cheated of Rs 7 Lakhs; four held for crypto extortion in Bandlaguda

HYDERABAD: Bandlaguda police arrested four persons in Chandrayangutta on Monday for allegedly cheating and extorting Rs 7 lakh from a man in the name of a cryptocurrency transaction.

The arrested persons were identified as Saber Bin Ahmed Hadrani (23), Mohammed Abul Salam (19), Mohammed Anas (21) and Mohammed Asif (27). Another accused, identified as Asif, is absconding.

The case came to light after the victim, a Begum Bazar resident, lodged a complaint alleging that he was cheated over a cryptocurrency transaction and that `7 lakh was forcibly taken from him at Ismail Nagar in Bandlaguda.

According to police, the accused approached people through Facebook and lured them with offers to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions. After gaining the victims’ confidence, they allegedly called them to designated locations on the pretext of completing transactions and then cheated and extorted money from them.

Police said the accused were allegedly involved in four other similar cases registered at Bandlaguda and Chandrayangutta police stations this year.