Mumbai: The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police has busted a diamond merchant cheating case, in which more than 25 traders were duped by a broker, Yatish Fichadiya, who had decamped on December 11 with stones worth Rs 27 crore. Fichadiya was arrested by the police from Kalyan station on Tuesday. It is claimed diamonds worth Rs 21 crores have been recovered and further recovery is under way.
The police have arrested seven more men in this case, including an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer. Six of them have been identified as Suresh Madheshiya (42), Kamil Qureshi (38), Ketan Parmar (38), Imran Khan (35), Vishal Mohan Shrivastava and Raj Mansuri (30). While most of the accused are Virar residents, some belong to Kandivali (W).
Fichadiya, a diamond broker, was working in a reputed diamond company for last eight years and had gained the confidence of a few traders who were known to him. Taking undue advantage of this, he managed to collect diamonds from them claiming that he would help them sell the stones at a more profitable price. Fichadiya had plotted for three months. On December 11, 2017, he managed to secure the diamonds from traders and went missing. The traders knew him very well and never suspected anything.
‘‘Considering the gravity of the case, it was taken up on priority. A search for Fichadiya along with his accomplices was intensified. The main accused relocated from Mumbai to Ajmer, Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Vrindavan, Agra, Lucknow, and several other cities, where he stayed in disguise,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 8, Anil Kumbhare. According to the police, Fichadiya had also been to Prayagraj to take a holy dip.
He was disguised as a priest. After touring the country, when Fichadiya ran short of money, he decided to take a train to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh; he was arrested by officers shadowing him from Kalyan railway station. “Fichadiya took advice from his lawyers and tried to evade arrest.
The haul was big, which put all diamond traders, especially in Surat, on alert abnd they refrained from purchasing any sparkles brought in from Mumbai. This was the real reason why only a small proportion of the valuables was disposed of,” Kumbhare added. All the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. More arrests are likely.
