2 history-sheeters booked under GujCTOC

Bhavnagar: The Gujarat Police have booked a history-sheeter gang leader and his accomplice under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime (GujCTOC) Act for kidnapping a gold merchant from Porbandar and extorting a ransom of ₹20 lakh. The accused operated from Nepal, while his accomplice was based in Gadhada.

Around 1.5 months ago, Pratapbhai Maganbhai Pala, a resident of the Wadi Plot area in Porbandar and owner of Rupa Jewelers in Soni Bazar, was approached by Bharatkumar Manji Lathia, also known by various aliases, including Guru, Bhanu Pratapsingh, Birmanand, Bhargav Jani, and Bhargav Jain. Bharatkumar lured the victim into a fraudulent deal involving Hong Kong gold, promising to supply it 15% cheaper than market rates through a Jaipur party. Bharatkumar and his accomplice, Ramji alias Jado Jinabhai Kataria, took Pratapbhai to Jaipur, where he was trapped, held hostage, beaten, and forced to pay ₹20 lakh in ransom. Based on Pratapbhai’s police complaint, the LCB team registered a case against seven individuals, including Bharatkumar, and arrested all the accused.

Given the serious nature of the crime, the Superintendent of Police instructed teams to investigate the criminal history of the main accused, Bharatkumar Manjibhai Lathia, and his accomplice, Ramji. The investigation revealed that Bharatkumar was involved in at least eight separate cases, including honey traps, extortion, and fraud schemes, such as selling glasses falsely claimed to reveal a naked person. The absence of prior police complaints for some incidents enabled the gang to continue their criminal activities unchecked.

Further investigations uncovered that Bharatkumar and his gang exploited victims across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Nepal through scams involving promises of cheap gold, diamonds, honey traps, and even items like colorful peacock feathers and Panchajanya conches. Victims were lured, kidnapped, and extorted for substantial sums of money.

Police inquiries into Bharatkumar’s criminal history revealed multiple offenses registered across police stations, including those in Palanpur (Banaskantha), Jankipur (Lucknow), Gandhinagar Infocity, Kankaroli (Rajasthan), Gariyadhar (Bhavnagar), and both rural and urban areas of Surat. DeshGujarat