IIT Kanpur student, associates detained for cryptocurrency fraud

Mumbai: Six people, including an IIT Kanpur student, were detained by Naupada Police in the city of Thane last week, over an allegation of cryptocurrency fraud.

The complaint was made by Naupada resident Susshil Kangya, who said he had been scammed by individuals connected to multi-level marketing (MLM) companies Dronx.Biz and BNB Pool, which are online platforms for investing in cryptocurrency mining. .

Senior Inspector Sanjay Dhumal of Naupada Police Station said that Subhransu Nayak, Rajesh Bapodra, Krish Reddy, Dr. Peter Dhanraj, Avinash Upadhyay and Pankaj Pandhi, who were named in the complaint as owners of the MLM organizations, were detained for questioning by the police. station May 9.

Kangya, who is a numerology consultant to Bollywood personalities, said he was tricked into investing Rs 2.5 lakhs in cryptocurrency, though Nayak, who says he is studying blockchain at IIT Kanpur, says the fraud claims are false.

While Kangya stated in his complaint letter that the fraud could be worth $300 million, he also told The Free Press Journal that Nayak never mentioned being an IIT student. “I was contacted by Nayak and Pankaj Pandhi who tricked me and my sister into participating in a cryptocurrency scheme and earning 8% monthly interest. I have been in constant contact with Nayak and have dated him, but he never mentioned that he was an IIT student,” Kangya said.

According to Kangya's letter, he initially invested Rs 2.5 lakh and received profit for a few months, after which they stopped. When Kangya and her sister questioned Nayak and Pandhi about their non-payment of rebates, they were shown videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising the organizations to show that the businesses were legitimate.

Nayak told The Free Press Journal: “I am studying blockchain at IIT Kanpur and as an IIT student I know what investments need to be made. I am an investor in Dronx.Biz and BNB Pool, and we have additional IIM and IIT graduates on our team, as well as other recognized experts.”

Lead investigator Dhumal said that police had received a letter from the complainant, but no FIR had been filed so far. Police did not know that Nayak was a student at IIT Kanpur until he mentioned it to them, Dhumal added.

The Free Press Journal contacted IIT Kanpur for comment on the matter, but the authorities declined to provide any information, apart from confirming that Subhransu Nayak is a student taking an online course on blockchain technology at his institute.