LD Engineering College lecturer duped of ₹69 lakh by ex-student in investment scam
A 37-year-old lecturer at LD Engineering College has filed a police complaint alleging that a former student defrauded him of over ₹68.94 lakh under the pretext of high-return investments and startup funding. The accused, Saurabh Pawan Kumar Trivedi, allegedly used a series of fabricated claims and forged transactions to siphon money from the victim over one year.
According to the FIR lodged at the Gujarat University Police Station, Sulaykumar Patel (37), a resident of Kaveri Sancham Apartment in Ahmedabad, first met Saurabh in 2022 when the latter was studying in the Automobile Department. Saurabh claimed to be associated with Aditya Birla Capital and a startup named Honix Enterprises, promising lucrative returns on investment.
Initially, Sulaykumar transferred ₹1 lakh to Saurabh’s SBI account via UPI on November 23, 2022. Saurabh later sought another ₹50,000, citing his mother’s illness. As trust built up, he persuaded Sulaykumar to take personal loans from various financial institutions, claiming that the invested amount would generate substantial profits and that the EMIs would be covered by his company.
Between November 2022 and November 2023, Sulaykumar took out multiple loans and made credit card payments totalling over ₹68.94 lakh.
These included–
₹2.5 lakh from his SBI and HDFC accounts via UPI
₹52.64 lakh from loans taken from HDFC, Bajaj Finance, IDFC First Bank, and others
₹13.80 lakh through credit cards from ICICI, AU Small Finance, IndusInd, and HDFC Banks
A large portion of these funds was transferred to Saurabh’s Federal Bank accounts and to the account of a firm. The accused also reportedly convinced the victim to liquidate his stock holdings worth ₹3.44 lakh, which were sent to another Axis Bank account in Saurabh’s name.
To keep the fraud going, Saurabh occasionally transferred small sums to the victim to pay EMIs, citing “company delays” during audits. He later went absconding, after repeated failed attempts to reach him, Sulaykumar traced his last known address in Surat, only to find that Saurabh and his family had vacated the premises over a year ago.
The complaint mentions that Sulaykumar had earlier submitted an application to the DCP’s office on 17 January 2025, but no recovery has been made so far. The lecturer finally filed an FIR after exhausting all means of communication and finding no resolution.
Police have registered a case under sections related to cheating, breach of trust, and criminal misappropriation and started an investigation. Authorities are currently tracing the financial transactions and account details of the accused and the linked firms. Saurabh remains untraceable as of now, and efforts are underway to locate and apprehend him.
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