Pro-Chancellor of Assam Kaziranga University duped of ₹35 lakh in fake ₹100 cr mortgage loan scam in Ahmedabad

An educationist and businessman from Assam has filed a police complaint in Ahmedabad, alleging that he was cheated out of ₹35 lakh by a group of individuals who promised him a ₹100 crore mortgage loan at half the prevailing bank interest rate. The FIR, registered at Bodakdev police station, names three accused— Rajendra Vaghela, Vipul Shah, and Nitanta Puranchand Sharma in connection with what the complainant describes as a “pre-planned conspiracy”.

According to the FIR filed by Basantkumar Ketan, a resident of Jorhat, Assam, who is Pro-Chancellor of Assam Kaziranga University, the alleged scam began in February 2025, when he received a WhatsApp message from a number introducing the sender as Rajendra Vaghela from Surat, Gujarat, offering financial assistance. Ketan, who runs a business under the name Nikon Power and Energy Limited, stated that he required funding for an ethanol project in Assam.

Following initial exchanges, Ketan was asked to travel to Ahmedabad to meet the "loan facilitator”. On February 24, 2025, he visited Office No. 818 at Navratna Corporate Park, Bopal-Ambli Road, Ahmedabad, where he met Vaghela and another man introduced as Vipul Shah. Shah claimed that the company would send a representative to Jorhat to verify the business’s premises and documents.

On March 5, 2025, Vaghela visited the company's site in Assam, inspected property papers, and took copies, assuring Ketan that the loan approval would follow soon. Several conversations ensued, and eventually, Ketan was asked to return to Ahmedabad on April 3, 2025 to finalise the agreement.

Ketan, along with his company’s manager, Mukesh Prajapat and financial advisor Bipin Kumar, visited the same office in Navratna Corporate Park. There, they met Kalpesh Patel (allegedly associated with Shah) and other unidentified individuals. Shah showed them a loan agreement and instructed them to pay ₹35 lakh as “stamp duty” before the agreement could be signed.

The amount was transferred via RTGS from Ketan’s Axis Bank account to a Canara Bank account held in the name of 'Capital Associates', allegedly owned by Nitanta Sharma, a resident of Ambala, Haryana, and also reportedly residing in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

However, shortly after the transaction, the accused individuals began to vanish under various pretexts. Shah allegedly excused himself to use the washroom and never returned. Vaghela called the complainant, claiming to be on another floor of the building, but when Ketan reached there, he discovered that no such person or office existed at the said location. Attempts to reach them via phone failed as their numbers were switched off.

“We had taken the application regarding the matter easily, but after which the victim had gone back to Assam. Due to some health issue and hectic schedule he was able to visit Ahmedabad. Due to which the FIR procedure got delayed ” said a senior police official. 

Realising he had been duped, Ketan contacted the police by dialling 100 from the reception of Navratna Corporate Park. An FIR was subsequently filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Police confirmed that the investigation has started. Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the office was on rent and no official documents were left behind by the accused. The role of Capital Associates and its owner, Nitanta Sharma, is now under scrutiny.

The case highlights the growing use of elaborate corporate fronts and digital communication to dupe unsuspecting businesspeople of large sums under the guise of loan facilitation. Investigations are ongoing, and police say they are working to trace the whereabouts of the accused, no arrests have been made so far.