Rajkot crime branch nabs Assam-based gang operating pan-India
Fraudsters used name of Assam's 'Matak Autonomous Council' to scam businessmen across the country
Updated: Nov 13th, 2023
Rajkot crime branch has busted a white collar scam operating from Assam, involving frauds worth crores of rupees across the country under the guise of an organisation of the Assam government.
Five arrests were made by the Rajkot crime branch, acting on a complaint filed in the Aji Dam police station by the owners of ‘Acube Engitech’ in the Bhumeshwar Industrial area.
As per the complaint registered by the owners, a gang from Assam had ordered 35,000 motor pumps worth ₹87.50 cr, in the name of ‘Matak Autonomous Council’, a community working for indigenous people in Assam.
The fraudsters collected ₹4.73 cr from the Rajkot company in the name of sample approval, security deposits, consulting fees, etc.
Moreover, the company had also sent 5,660 motor pumps worth ₹14.15 cr to Assam, thus a complaint of fraud worth ₹18.88 cr was filed.
The modus operandi
As per the sources of crime branch, the gang was active under the name of the Matak Autonomous Council office, wherein they used to mass order motor pumps, blankets, mosquito nets, schoolbags, solar panels, and other products in bulk from across the country and used to collect funds under the guise of fake work orders and security deposits.
The gang then used to sell all the products cheaply in the markets of Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, and Tinsukia.
The chief orchestrator of the gang, Parth Bhardwaj, was a consultant at Matak Autonomous, making it easier for him to set up meetings with the suppliers in his office.
Rajkot police in action
Rajkot police commissioner Raju Bhargava and additional police commissioner Vidhi Chaudhary assigned Dr Parthrajsingh Gohil, deputy commissioner of police (DySP) crime branch, for further investigation.
Gohil assigned police inspector (PI) YB Jadeja and BT Gohil under the guidance of assistant commissioner of police (ACP, crime) BB Basiya and sent multiple teams to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam for the operation.
The team arrested five members of a gang from different corners of the country, including Bhopal, Lonavala, and Ghaziabad.
Apart from Parth Bhardwaj, a resident of assam, the other gang members included three UP-based members, Bhardwaj’s personal assistant Nanda Gaur, main consultant Pawan Sharma, consultant Samrit Tansar, and one more consultant, Manish Vishwakarma from MP.
Currently, the godown manager Khargeshwar Bhuyan of Assam, is absconding.
Apart from the Acube Engitech, the gang also scammed a Delhi-based businessman of ₹52 cr, and a Udaipur-based business of ₹4.50 cr.
