Ahmedabad: Partners Allege ₹8–10 Crore Ticketing Fraud at 2025 'Norta Nagari' Garba Event

A dispute among partners of the 2025 Norta Nagari Garba event in Ahmedabad has escalated into a police case, with one of the partners alleging that complimentary tickets were illegally converted into saleable tickets and sold online, causing an estimated financial loss of ₹8–10 crore to the other partners.

The complaint was filed on September 9 by Arjunbhai Gagabhai Bhutia, 36, an event-management professional and partner in the event. The complaint names Darshanbhai Shah of Pashwa Jewellers, his manager Jayeshbhai Parmar, Ravibhai Shah and Sanjaybhai Desai as accused.

Partnership Formed for 2025 Garba Event

According to the complaint, Bhutia, along with Jigarbhai Chauhan, Krishna Gadhvi and Darshanbhai Shah, decided to organise the Norta Nagari Garba event in 2025. A notarised partnership agreement was subsequently executed under the name AAI Event on August 26, 2025.

Darshanbhai allegedly proposed inducting his manager, Jayeshbhai Parmar, as a partner, which was accepted by the other partners.

Partners Agreed on Complimentary Ticket Quota

Before the event, the partners allegedly agreed to sell tickets both online through the District platform on the Zomato application and through offline channels. They also decided to issue around 4,000 complimentary tickets per day to sponsors and acquaintances.

The complaint states that any additional complimentary or sale tickets could be distributed only with the consent of all partners.

Two Men Allegedly Found Selling Tickets at Venue

Shortly before the event, Darshanbhai allegedly suggested giving tickets to an agency for bulk sales. However, according to the complainant, no formal agreement was ultimately reached with any ticket-selling agency.

During the event, the partners allegedly noticed two unidentified men selling tickets at the venue. When questioned, the men reportedly said they had received the tickets from Umangbhai of Ticket Tower Company.

The complainant alleged that Umangbhai told the partners that the tickets had been given to him by Darshanbhai Shah and that tickets originally issued as complimentary passes were being sold.

Ticketing Data Raises Questions

The partners allegedly refrained from taking immediate action as the event was underway and they did not want to disrupt the programme.

After the event, they obtained ticketing data from the District platform. According to the complaint, the data showed 1,55,980 tickets sold, against 30,634 tickets issued, with 1,04,576 listed as complimentary tickets. It also recorded 3,857 on-ground tickets and 16,913 online tickets.

When the partners sought clarification from Zomato over the alleged sale of complimentary tickets, they were reportedly told that the tickets had been routed through Darshanbhai's consultant to his nephew, Ravibhai Shah.

Police Probe to Establish Money Trail

The complainant alleged that Darshanbhai denied selling the tickets when questioned and failed to provide a satisfactory explanation.

The FIR alleges that Darshanbhai Shah, Jayeshbhai Parmar, Ravibhai Shah and Sanjaybhai Desai acted together to convert complimentary tickets into saleable tickets and sell them through the online ticketing system without the knowledge or consent of the other partners.

The complainant has alleged that the accused collectively gained around ₹8–10 crore through the alleged ticket sales.

Sarkhej Police are investigating the case. Investigators are expected to examine the partnership agreement, ticket-issuance records, District/Zomato transaction data, bank accounts and communications with ticketing intermediaries to determine how the complimentary tickets were distributed and whether they were subsequently sold.

Police will also ascertain the role of each accused and the exact amount, if any, involved in the alleged financial irregularities.