NOIDA (UP): A man wanted in connection with the Rs 3,500-crore ‘Bike Bot’ scam was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) from Greater Noida, officials said on Tuesday.Lalit Bhati has 56 cases linked to the scam lodged against him at a police station in Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Greater Noida, they said.Bhati was arrested by the Noida unit of the STF along with officials from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Meerut police on Monday, a senior officer said.”Bhati was wanted in 56 cases linked to the Bike Bot fraud and carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head. He was held near the Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida around 10.30 pm on Monday,” said Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra.The accused has been lodged at the Dadri police station, where the FIRs in connection with the Bike Bot case have been registered, for further legal proceedings, he added.On October 7, the STF had arrested three men, including a retired Army personnel and a brother of the scam mastermind.
Garvit Innovative Promoters Limited (GIPL), a Noida-registered company, had in 2018 come out with a 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 doubling 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 Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh, according to the police.Around a dozen people, including Bike Bot boss Sanjay Bhati, have been arrested in the case so far, the police said.
