West Bengal bizman duped of gold coins worth 4.4 lakh; 66-Yr-Old lured to A’bad with promise of Railway tender

Ahmedabad: A 66-year-old businessman from West Bengal was allegedly cheated of gold coins worth Rs 4.38 lakh by a group of fraudsters who posed as middlemen capable of securing railway tanker tenders through senior officials.The complaint was registered with the detection of crime branch (DCB) on Saturday.The complainant, Uttamkumar Mukherjee, a resident of Durgapur in West Bengal, runs a business dealing in govt tenders. According to the FIR, the incident occurred on March 4, when Mukherjee travelled to Ahmedabad after being told that railway tanker tenders would soon be floated in Gujarat and that he could secure one through influential contacts. Mukherjee stated that on March 3, he received a phone call from his acquaintance, Rajiv Gogoi, who informed him about the upcoming tenders and advised him to contact Hardik Jain of Vadodara. Gogoi allegedly told him that Jain had links with people who could help secure the contract.When Mukherjee contacted Jain, the latter reportedly said that a person named Swapnil Bangali, an advocate known to him, could arrange the tender through his connections. Mukherjee was asked to come to Ahmedabad for a meeting and was told that officials would have to be given "gifts" worth around Rs 3–4 lakh before discussions could proceed.Mukherjee flew to Ahmedabad on March 4 and checked into a hotel in Ellisbridge. He purchased two gold coins one weighing 20 grams and another 5 grams— worth Rs 4.38 lakh through a contact in the city. Later that morning, Jain met him at the hotel, and soon after, Bangali arrived along with another man introduced as Jitu Patel. The duo claimed that Patel had strong connections with officials in Delhi who could ensure the tender.The four then travelled to the circuit house in Shahibaug, where the accused allegedly took the gold coins from Mukherjee, saying the "gift" had to be handed over before meeting the officials. They later introduced two men as officers — Tejas Mehta and Kaushik Lakhani — who assured the businessman that the tender would be arranged if Patel's instructions were followed. After returning to the hotel, the accused allegedly demanded an advance payment for processing the tender. When Mukherjee and Jain refused to pay any advance before approval of the contract, the suspects left the hotel.Growing suspicious, Mukherjee later made enquiries and found that no officials by those names were connected with any railway tender process. Realising that he was cheated, he approached the DCB and lodged a complaint. DCB police registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust.