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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
How a near perfect diamond heist was ‘foiled' 2 months later — due to old prison mates' betrayal
From creating a triple failsafe to hide his identity, to learning tradecraft from jailhouse 'experts', a first-time diamond thief nearly got away with stealing 11,655 precious stones in Gujarat. Described by an investigator as the case 'with the highest probability of not being solved,' the heist was executed by a highly skilled repeat offender who had previously been jailed for petty thefts and house break-ins. Last month, he allegedly stole 11,655 diamonds weighing 130.55 carats and worth Rs 60.83 lakh from a polishing unit in Rajkot. Then, he disappeared for nearly two months, with multiple investigative teams hitting dead ends — until an overlooked clue led to the capture of a suspect. On Friday, May 29, Rajkot City Police's Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) announced the arrest of 34-year-old Ajay Jagdish Lallu Nayka, a resident of Umarpada in Surat, for stealing the diamonds on the intervening night of April 10-11. In early April, police said, Nayka began surveying the Bhaktinagar area of Rajkot, known for its cluster of diamond polishing units. After identifying a vulnerable unit, he allegedly hid tools in a shed next door, ensuring they were out of sight. Nayka allegedly made two failed attempts on consecutive nights due to people being present at the site. On the third night, April 10, he 'succeeded'. Carrying a bag of clothes and masks, he allegedly broke into the vault using the specialized cutting tools and stole the diamonds. 'We were completely blind,' said Inspector Jadav. He said Nayka had employed three layers of identity protection: first, the accused wore a Guy Fawkes mask — popularised by the 1982 graphic novel V for Vendetta and its 2006 film adaptation. Second, Nayka allegedly disabled and removed the security control room's Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and hard disk. Third, he changed his clothes inside and walked on the road divider to evade surrounding CCTVs. 'Most CCTVs aren't angled to capture the divider or don't have sufficient range, especially at night,' said an investigator. After reviewing footage from over 100 cameras, police found no usable images of Nayka. The triple failsafe had worked, right until he failed to sell the diamonds. In May, Nayka travelled to Vapi and Surat to sell the diamonds on the black market. But the diamond industry, being tightly knit, had already been alerted statewide. Unable to enter the legitimate or even black market, he turned to the grey market. 'He had researched how to steal diamonds, but not how to sell them,' said ACP B B Basiya. Nayka didn't know the stones' value and received 'wildly different price quotes', which confused him. Fearing exposure, he decided to wait until the case went cold. He allegedly hid the diamonds in an abandoned factory and returned to Umarpada. 'With no CCTV and no phone usage by Nayka, we had to explore other tactics,' said an officer. Investigators began tracing sellers of the specialized cutting tools used in the heist. 'There are four firms selling the drill machines and six selling the variable spanners. Nayka bought both locally in Rajkot but paid in cash, without bills,' the officer said. This lack of documentation stalled progress once again. These no-bill purchases, often done to evade taxes, are now under scrutiny. Local police are investigating retailers who sold tools to Nayka without invoices. 'Stealing diamonds from reinforced safes requires expert-level precision using magnetic drills, cutters, and variable spanners,' said PI M R Gondaliya of the Crime Branch. Police questioned 15 suspects previously involved in diamond heists, including three jailed for a 2023 case in Mahudi Taluka. All three were in the same Rajkot Central Jail barracks as Nayka, during his 2024 imprisonment for a house break-in. 'These men told us Nayka had been very curious about their methods,' said PI Jadav. 'He asked detailed questions about tools and techniques. They unknowingly trained him.' Already familiar with fabrication tools, Nayka allegedly combined this jailhouse knowledge with YouTube tutorials to sharpen his skills. With Nayka's arrest and recovery of the hidden diamonds, the case has now been transferred to the Bhaktinagar police station for further investigation.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
3 of Manish Kukri gang nabbed
Surat: The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Surat city police nabbed three notorious criminals of the Manish Kukri gang from Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. The accused attempted to murder a person in a Sarthana hotel on May 16 after rioting. They covered 500km to 600km daily to evade arrest. Those arrested were Manish Mandanka (Patel) alias Manish Kukri, Mitesh Desai, and Chirag Borda. An attempt to murder case was registered against them after they attacked Aniket Nimawat, Vivek Dobariya, Parth, and others. As the accused were involved in cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, abduction, loot, and Arms Act in the past, the Surat crime branch was entrusted with the task of arresting them. During the investigation, the DCB learnt that the accused were roaming in their vehicle, having visited Omkareshwar, Goa, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Satara. They stayed at highway dhabas at night and started travelling in the morning. Teams under inspectors J N Zala, P K Sodha, H A Sindha, and sub-inspector K H Puwar pursued them for the last five days. Finally, one of the teams nabbed them from Pachmarhi while they were sleeping in their car. Manish has 25 serious offences against him in Ahmedabad and Surat police records, while Desai has 15 crimes and Borda has six crimes registered against them.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
25L ‘supari' put on friend over affair with wife
Surat: Police have cracked the case pertaining to yarn trader Sanjay Padshala, who was shot in the back on May 23. Sleuths of Godadara police and detection of crime branch (DCB) checked footage from 800 cameras to track down a person who was allegedly involved, Haresh Gajera, who revealed the plot to police. Gajera said Padshala had had an affair with the wife of his friend, Bhupat Dhaduk. Dhaduk paid Gajera Rs 25 lakh to arrange the contract killing (supari killing) of Padshala. Padshala was shot on the morning of May 23 when he was near the bridge at Parvat village. The bullet lodged in his back and he underwent surgery to remove it. During their investigation, police noticed a suspect on a motorcycle in several key bits of CCTV footage. This person was traced back to an apartment at Shivam Residency in Kamrej, which was found to belong to Haresh Gajera. Police arrested Gajera, who spilled the beans on the conspiracy. "Three months ago, Dhaduk had told Gajera that Padshala had been a good friend but betrayed him and had an 18-month affair with Dhaduk's wife. Dhaduk told Gajera to kill Padshala at any cost and Gajera took Rs 25 lakh for the killing. Gajera contacted Ravi Pradhan, who used to work as a driver at his embroidery unit a few years ago. Pradhan demanded Rs 20 lakh for the killing and took Rs 1 lakh in advance from Gajera. Pradhan then called three contract killers, who stayed at Gajera's flat in Kamrej on May 15. After conducting reconnaissance for a few days, one of them finally shot Padshala," the investigating officer said. After the shooting, Ravi called Gajera on May 24 and demanded the remaining Rs 19 lakh. Gajera met Ravi near Kharwasa Bridge and handed over the money. "The prime accused, Dhaduk, left his home after the shooting and is still at large. Ravi Pradhan has also left Surat with his family. We are yet to arrest three others — the shooter and his two aides," an officer said.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Time of India
Two from MP held with mephedrone worth Rs 52L
Ahmedabad: The City Crime Branch on Sunday arrested two persons with 525 g of mephedrone (MD drug) near the AMTS bus stop under the foot overbridge at the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway. This action was part of a special drive against narcotics by the crime branch. Based on a tip-off, the crime branch team conducted a raid and detained two persons. The seized quantity of mephedrone is valued at Rs 52.5 lakh in the illegal market. Along with the drugs, police also seized two mobile phones worth Rs 10,000, cash, one PAN card, and one Aadhaar card, stated a crime branch release. The arrested accused are identified as Ajay Prajapati (41) and Anandi Damor (41), both residents of Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh. According to preliminary investigation, a person named Shahrukh, residing in the Vatva area of the city, is believed to be the main operator behind the drug supply. He allegedly sourced the mephedrone from a man named Kalu in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh. Kalu sent the drug consignments via different couriers using trains from Mandsaur to Vadodara and then through private vehicles to Ahmedabad. The delivery was usually made near the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway. DCB police registered a case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against Prajapati and Damor and have launched an investigation to trace Shahrukh and other individuals involved in the drug trafficking network.
New Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Madras HC orders display of Ombudsman details in local bodies
The complainants had alleged that the petitioner had committed several financial irregularities and amassed wealth disproportionate to his sources of income. Paunraj's counsel, however, claimed that the association owed a huge amount in tax arrears and made the above complaint to intimidate him from taking any further action towards its recovery. The judge observed that the Tamil Nadu Local Bodies Ombudsman Act was enacted in 2014 with an intention to address the complaints of corruption, maladministration, etc made against the elected members, officers and employees of the local bodies in the state. Section 6(4) of the Act empowers the ombudsman to avail the services of any officer or investigation agency of the government for the purpose of conducting inquiry under the Act. Hence, the order of the ombudsman does not warrant interference, he held. He also noted that a criminal case was registered against Paunraj by the district crime branch police (DCB), Coimbatore, in 2021, for misappropriating public funds to the tune of Rs 15.62 crore during his stint as Valparai municipality commissioner. The case was later transferred to the DVAC but no final report has been filed in the case despite a specific direction from the court in 2022, the judge noted, and directed the DVAC director to ensure that the final report is filed expeditiously.
