Six cops at eatery, parlour with scam kingpin & wife, suspended

Noida: An embarrassed UP Police suspended six constables on Tuesday after they were spotted at a restaurant in Noida’s Cleo County where Anubhav Mittal, the mastermind of one of the biggest Ponzi scams to be unearthed in recent times, was present.
Among those suspended were two women constables of the Reserve Police Lines, Lucknow, who had escorted Mittal’s wife Ayushi, a co-accused in the Ponzi fraud, to a beauty parlour near the society.
The suspensions came after four videos showing Mittal in the restaurant in the presence of policemen, who had brought him from Lucknow to attend a court hearing in Faridabad, hit social media. A group of investors in Mittal’s Ponzi scheme and local residents had spotted him at the restaurant and heckled him. That drew attention to Mittal and the constables and videos of the episode were soon widely shared. Rules allow an accused to be served meals only at a police station and the expenses are reimbursed by the state.
The constables suspended include Arun, Arun Kumar, Ramesh, Rajan, Preeti and Sushila. They escorted Mittal to the restaurant and allowed him free movement, Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani said. Mittal was arrested in Noida over two years ago for cheating as many as 6.5 lakh investors by tricking them into investing money in a Rs 3,700-crore online trading fraud that promised big returns in exchange of “hitting likes”. He ran his scheme, Social Trade, from an office in Noida.
Mittal was spotted at the restaurant around 3pm. He and the police team had stopped at Cleo County, an upscale residential society in Sector 121, on their way to Lucknow. PTI quoted a police spokesperson as saying that Mittal had visited a friend at Cleo County.
At least four videos later showed Mittal at the restaurant with five men in plain clothes and two policemen in khaki. He can be seen being heckled by investors, who ask him when their money will be returned. “When will we get our money back? How can you roam freely? You fled with so much money, where is the money of common man?” one person is heard questioning. At this, Mittal can be heard saying the money had been seized by the Enforcement Directorate and tries to walk out of the restaurant. In another video captured outside the restaurant, he can be seen being heckled by some investors while men in plain clothes intervene to rescue him.
One more video showed Mittal being confronted by an investor, who asks, “I have sold the property of my children to give invest money in your scheme. Where is it?” To this, Mittal responds, “Look, the proceedings are going on. Rs 668 crore has been attached by the ED, and you must be aware of it. From where can we give money in this situation?” Mittal was taken to Phase 3 police station after an investor informed Noida police. “Lucknow police brought him to Cleo County after returning from the hearing,” SHO Devendra Singh said.
Responding to reports of Mittal partying in the city, Noida police chief Vaibhav Krishna said, “They might have had some drinks. Noida police had no role to play in this incident. Locals complained about Mittal’s presence and a PCR team was sent, which immediately brought him to Phase 3 police station. All three accused were safely sent to Lucknow. I have asked the Lucknow SSP to take action against the cops involved in the incident of indiscipline and get an inquiry conducted as to how they could allow them to move in Noida like this.”
At least three agencies, including the Special Task Force and ED, are probing as many as 374 cases related to the alleged fraud orchestrated by Mittal and his accomplices.