Police arrest father and son who convinced man to invest in invention to generate electricity from thunderbolts

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Indian police have arrested a father and son who used fake space suits to convince a businessman to hand over more than $200,000 (nearly £150,000).



New Delhi police released pictures and video of the two accused wearing the silver suits after they were apprehended over claims they could sell magical copper plates to Nasa.

Already on bail accused of selling snakes with “medicinal qualities” for more than $25,000 each, the pair told potential victims they were developing a device that could be used to generate “electricity from thunderbolts”.

They promised it would be sold to Nasa and India’s space agency for hundreds of millions of dollars, police said.

Images of the accused fraudsters in radiation suits alongside crime branch investigators were widely shared on Indian social media, where comments compared the duo’s antics to “a low-budget C-grade Bollywood movie”.

Police said that in addition to the New Delhi businessman, the father and son may have conned money out of up to 30 people across northern India.

bhavatosh singh (@bhavatoshsingh) Crime branch has averted a #maritian attack 😀😀 pic.twitter.com/5ZPhOdmiBC

Their fake device was apparently based on rare copper “that had been struck by a thunderbolt” so that it could magnetise rice, police explained.

A copper plate covered in a thin magnetic liquid and rice mixed with iron filings were used to show off the machine.

The pair, who employed actors to wear radiation suits and staged fake tests, had said they needed money to develop the invention, detectives said.

The New Delhi businessman became suspicious when promised experiments were repeatedly called off, mainly because of bad weather. He went to police and acknowledged he had handed over more than $200,000.

It is not known how much the other victims paid.