Gang of undergrads uses ‘lift ploy’ to make a fast buck

Young, dangerous and out to make a fast buck, a gang of undergraduates pursuing courses like BBA and B.Tech in private colleges was on the prowl in the city’s periphery, unleashing ‘lift and loot’ tactics apparently to be able to afford a luxurious lifestyle before the long arm of the law caught up with them and sent them behind bars.

Targeting unsuspecting commuters seeking a lift, they forced them to cough up substantial amounts of money online and got the sum transferred to accounts of acquaintances or Jan Seva Kendra to avoid suspicion, according to the police.

Shailendra Kumar Mishra, 32, a resident of the PGI area in the state capital, was one such victim of this gang.

Returning home from office recently, he was waiting for an auto-rickshaw in the evening when he sought a lift for a few kilometres, falling into the gang’s trap.

After travelling for more than a kilometre, the young men who gave him the lift stopped the car at a secluded stretch and suddenly turned violent, asking for money.

“When I said I had no cash, they thrashed me and pressured me to send the money to them online. Out of fear, I agreed and they made me scan a QR code for payment and send them ₹47,500 online,” Mishra.

Mishra said after the money was credited into their account, they threw him out of the car and sped away.

After the incident was reported, a 19-member police team tracked down the perpetrators, who turned out to be a gang of young men in their early 20s pursuing courses like BBA and B.Tech in private colleges.

“Gang of three men identified as Anurag Singh, 25, Prince Singh, 21, and Abhishek alias Ritik, 20, all living in the PGI area of Lucknow on rent,” said Shashank Singh, deputy commissioner of police (East), Lucknow.

“The victim’s relative Ashwini Mishra, a resident of Vrindavan Yojna, gave a written complaint to police about the incident that happened with his uncle. Joint teams, including PGI police, surveillance cell, and DCP east were formed and the car was tracked down using surveillance. During investigation, it came to the fore that a similar incident was reported with a man seeking help on Kisan Path under Sushant Golf City police station a few days before,” the DCP added.

Based on an informant’s inputs, the three accused were arrested from the Defence Expo ground in Lucknow’s Vrindavan Yojana on Saturday.

Station house officer, PGI police station, Ravi Shankar Tripathi said among the arrested accused, Prince and Abhishek, alias Hrithik, lived on rent in Ekta Nagar Colony and were doing BBA. Both of them used Anurag Singh’s car to carry out the crime. Anurag is a B.Tech student in the same college.

Another victim Sonu Yadav, who was looted on a secluded stretch of the Narpatganj area of Kisan Path on January 22, said, “I was stranded in the evening. I saw a car coming slowly. As soon as they stopped, I asked them for help and they immediately agreed. After a minute, the trio started thrashing me and even threatened to kill me in case I failed to give them money,” said the victim.

Explaining the modus operandi, police said that the young men would often set out at night and would try to either offer a lift or kidnap someone found to be vulnerable and would threaten people to give money or ready to be killed once the person was inside their car.

“They would get the money transferred online to the account of any of their acquaintances or relatives, or also get it transferred to the Jan Seva Kendra (account). To take the money, they would tell the account holders that the money was sent by their acquaintance to avoid suspicion,” said DCP East, adding that police also seized a white car without nameplate, seven phones and ₹12,800 cash, an ATM card and a driver’s licence.

They would go to Jan Seva Kendra and claimed that either they do not have any bank account and they need help to withdraw money. They would also make an excuse that the senders’ account is “not working” because they are in village and hence they got the money transferred to the Jan Seva Kendra account, which needs to be withdrawn.

According to the DCP, the accused are new to crime.

“The details of the bank accounts are being searched to see if they have committed more such crimes,” he added.