Kanpur | A "time machine", the promise of turning the clock back four decades and a couple that went into hiding after making around Rs 35 crore by duping those desperate to be young. It may sound like a plot of a Bollywood potboiler but is straight out of the Kanpur crime files.

Rajeev Kumar Dubey and his wife Rashmi Dubey opened a therapy centre, Revival World, in the Saket Nagar area in Kanpur where they claimed to provide "hyperbaric oxygen therapy" inside the "time machine" that could undo years of ageing within months, according to police.

Rajeev and Rashmi introduced a pyramid scheme. They lured new customers with the promise of handsome concessions and high returns in a short span of time, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankita Sharma said on Friday.

They also distributed pamphlets and put up hoardings claiming that the polluted air of Kanpur was causing people to age rapidly and their age-reversing "time machine" could transform 65-year-olds into 25-year-olds, the DCP said.

The accused couple offered several packages ranging from Rs 6,000 for 10 sessions to Rs 90,000 for a three-year reward system, she added.

The fraud came to light after one of the victims, Renu Singh, lodged a police complaint alleging that she was duped of Rs 7 lakh by Rajeev and Rashmi.

In her complaint, Singh expressed apprehension that the accused might have fled abroad after being exposed.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered against the couple under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), DCP Sharma said.

During the investigation, it came to light that the couple duped several others and amassed more than Rs 35 crore on the pretext of turning the elderly into 25-year-olds with their therapy, she said.

The machine used by the accused at their therapy centre is being examined by experts, the officer said.