Notes ban: ED arrests Surat-based Bhajiawala under PMLA

January 20, 2017

Surat, Jan 20: The ED today said it has arrested city-based financer Kishore Bhajiawala on money laundering charges and for allegedly using 1,000 fake IDs to illegally convert Rs 1 crore in old notes into new post demonetisation. The agency said it has placed "Jignesh Kishorebhai Bhajiawala (41) under arrest as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at about 11:45 PM last night" at is sub-zonal office here. He will produced in court today.

EDThe Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a criminal FIR against Bhajiawala and some of his family members based on a CBI FIR against him, which was booked after the Income Tax department first conducted searches and seized gold and cash from his premises as part of their operation in December last year to check blackmoney post the notes ban. The case had gained prominence after investigating agencies detected the proverbial rags-to-riches ascent of the 'chaiwala'-turned-financier based in the diamond city of Gujarat.

"The Bhajiawala family has converted a huge amount of their unaccounted money, post demonetisation, into new high denomination currency and other valuables through collusion with bank officials and private persons by impersonating, forgery and by using forged documents. "An amount of over Rs 1.02 crore in new currency was seized by the I-T department from his premises during searches at his home, shop and bank lockers held by them. It was also found that the accused had hired several bank lockers in benami names to stash their unaccounted assets," the ED alleged.

Describing the alleged modus operandi deployed by Bhajiawala to generate and stash black money, the ED said, "Bhajiawala in collusion with P Bhatt, the then Senior Manager, Surat Peoples Cooperative Bank Limited, Udhna branch in Surat obtained KYC files and these files were taken outside the bank to several xerox centres to obtain photocopies of IDs available in the said files." "This way Bhajiawala collected more than 1,000 IDS. Around 200 of these IDs were used by him to obtain new currency in lieu of old currency of Rs 1,000/500 from the said bank," it said.

The agency added that "it is believed that Bhajiawala has used the remaining IDs to obtain new currency through collusion, impersonation and forgery and laundered the same. "Possibility of Bhajiawala collecting IDs from other financial institutions and their misuse cannot be ruled out as the probe is ongoing," it added.

The I-T sleuths had recovered Rs 1.45 crore cash, with about Rs 1.05 crore in new currency notes, bullion worth Rs 1.49 crore, gold jewellery valued at Rs 4.92 crore, other ornaments worth Rs 1.39 crore and silver ingots priced at Rs 1.28 crore. The total assets of Bhajiawala detected by the IT were about Rs 10.50 crore.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Palghar, Mar 7: Police have arrested a man for allegedly cheating several shopkeepers in Maharashtra's Thane, Pune and Nashik by making phone calls in a woman's voice, police said on Friday.

The accused, Shashikant Ambekar (42), a resident of Palghar, was arrested in the last week of February, they said.

"He used to note down the phone numbers mentioned on different shops and call the owners in a woman's voice to order some things from them. He would tell them that he had a Rs 2000 currency note and needed change," an official said.

"He would ask the shopkeepers to send smaller denomination notes for exchange. He would wait at the entrance of buildings and when the delivery man arrived, he used to tell that he was there on behalf of the ''caller woman''.

"He would then take the currency notes from the delivery man saying he would get the Rs 2,000 note from the woman. However, he would disappear from the scene," the official said.

Police have seized Rs 1,85,000 from the accused and found that so far he has committed 22 similar crimes in different parts of the state.

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News Network
June 7,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 7: A 27-year-old man was allegedly killed using deadly weapons by unidentified people here, police said.

The incident took place at deceased, Arvind's rented house in LBS Nagar inside HAL police station limits.

According to police, Arvind is an accused in a criminal case and recently walked out of jail on bail. 

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News Network
July 9,2020

Etawah, Jul 9: Another aide of the Kanpur encounter accused Vikas Dubey, Bahua Dubey, died in an encounter with the police, here on Thursday.

"Today at around 4.30 AM, in an encounter with the Etawah Police, one person has died. from him, a rifle and a pistol too has been recovered. When we shared the information with the Kanpur Police, they identified him as Bahua Dubey," said SSP Etawah Akash Tomar.

"He was involved in the Kanpur encounter alongside Vikas Dubey and there was a bounty of Rs 50,000 on him," he added.

"Around 3 AM on the highway near Mahewa Police Station Bakewar, a Swift Dzire car was looted by four armed assailants on a Scorpio. Around 4:30 AM, they were intercepted at Kachaura road under Police Station Civil lines by the police. When police parties chased them, the car collided with a tree, and criminals started firing at the police," he further said.

Dubey sustained injuries during the encounter and was pronounced dead when taken to the hospital. However, the other three managed to escape. One pistol, a double-barrel gun, and several cartridges have been recovered, he informed further.

Earlier today, Prabhat Mishra, also an aide of the main accused, died after being shot at by the police.

Mishra had sustained an injury on the leg after being shot at by the police and was rushed to a hospital before being pronounced dead.

Vikas Dubey is the main accused in the encounter that took place in Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him. Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

A search operation is currently underway to nab Dubey.

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