UP cops arrest 2 from Punjab in Rs 3,500-cr ‘Bike Bot’ scam

Noida (UP), December 19

A team of Uttar Pradesh police has arrested a couple from their home in Punjab for their alleged involvement in the Rs 3,500 crore ‘Bike Bot’ fraud case, officials said on Saturday.

Accused Ravindra Kumar and Rekha Rani have 71 cases lodged against them at a police station in Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Greater Noida, the officials said.

“The couple was arrested from their current home in Ludhiana by a team of Dadri Police Station, Economic Offences Wing and the Meerut unit of the Special Task Force (STF),” a Gautam Buddh Nagar police spokesperson said.

An FIR has been lodged against the couple under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (fraud), 467, 468, 471 (all related to forgery), 120B (criminal conspiracy), among others, the police said.

The Noida-registered Garvit Innovative Promoters Limited (GIPL) company had in 2018 come out with the multi-level marketing scheme “Bike Bot” and lured investors with a promise of double returns in a year, the police said.

They sought Rs 62,100 in investment for a motorcycle taxi and assured monthly returns besides double the investment amount in just one year but failed to deliver on the promise.

The firm has duped around 2.25 lakh investors to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore across UP, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, according to a police estimate.

Over a dozen people, including Bike Bot boss Sanjay Bhati, have been arrested so far, the police said. PTI