Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police's STF on Thursday apprehended a couple, who had been evading arrest for nearly 17 years and were wanted for allegedly defrauding several people on the pretext of providing jobs, officials said.
The couple, Amit Srivastava and Shikha Srivastava, with a combined reward of Rs 1 lakh on their arrests, were held from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, they said.
According to STF officials, the couple was apprehended from the Shivanta Apartments in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area. They were wanted in a case registered at the George Town police station in UP's Prayagraj, where they faced charges of fraud and other offenses.
"We had received information that Amit and Shikha Srivastava were hiding in Ahmedabad. Acting on the tip-off, the STF team located and arrested the duo," the STF said in a statement.
"During interrogation, Amit revealed that in 2007, he and Shikha had founded a company called 'Infocons Consultants Private Limited' in George Town, Prayagraj. Amit served as the Managing Director, and Shikha was the Co-director," it said.
The company purportedly offered jobs as software developers and engineers, with a monthly salary of Rs 8,500. Job seekers were required to deposit between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh as 'security money', the agency said.
Amit disclosed that the company promised a three-year work commitment under a 'service agreement', with assurances of salary increments after six months and a return of the security money after three years, it said.
"However, once they had amassed a significant amount of security deposits, the couple fled with the funds. After fleeing from Prayagraj, the Srivastavas initially moved to Delhi and continued their fraudulent activities," the STF said.
"For the past six to seven years, they had been residing in a flat they purchased in Ahmedabad's Shivanta Apartments. There, they established another company named 'Gymni Software', which dealt with medical software, and also operated a virtual office in Dubai with 12-15 employees," it added.
The STF said it will present the arrested couple before an additional district sessions judge in Ahmedabad for the execution of transit remand proceedings.
Published 15 August 2024, 16:51 IST