‘Freedom 251’ scam suspect held for framing kin

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Saturday said they arrested Mohit Goel, the 34-year-old who allegedly masterminded the ₹200 crore Freedom 251 smartphone scam of 2016, along with two of his associates, for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to frame Goel’s brother-in-law in connection with a case involving threatening a rape survivor.

Goel’s brother-in-law, Vikas Mittal, was booked and arrested in connection with a case involving the rape, drugging, and threatening of a woman at the Dwarka South police station in August 2020.

According to police, Goel considered Mittal a personal and business rival and suspected his involvement in all the cases registered against him in 2016. Goel conspired with his personal security officer Vineet alias Shanky and accomplice Sumit Yadav to frame Mittal in false cases, said joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar.

Explaining the entire conspiracy, Kumar said, “It all started with the registration of the rape case against Mittal in 2020. When Goel learnt about the case, he decided to settle his scores with him.”

Kumar said Goel allegedly got one of his accomplices to pose as Mittal and threaten the victim over the phone. Later, he allegedly sent one of his accomplices to pose as Mittal’s man and got him to threaten the girl in person, all the while when another person, who was also linked to Goel, turned a witness in the threat case filed against Mittal.

Days later, Goel’s associate, who posed as the eyewitness, shot four rounds in the air and filed an attempt to murder case against Mittal.

“In the complaint, he claimed he was subjected to a near-fatal attack because he was a witness in the threatening case lodged in Delhi by a rape survivor. The objective was to make the police believe that everything was happening on Mittal’s orders,” said the joint CP.