Police crack down on textile fraudsters, 16 FIRs filed

Surat: Police have launched a crackdown on textile fraudsters, registering 16 FIRs across various police stations in the city and dispatching teams to several states to track down the accused. The action follows a meeting between senior police officials and textile traders chaired by additional commissioner of police Balram Meena.DCP (Zone 2) Kanan Desai told TOI, "We held a dialogue with textile traders to address the rising cheating cases. Based on their inputs, we promptly registered 16 FIRs involving fraud amounts ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Around 50 complaints are currently under investigation, and more FIRs are likely to be filed in the coming days."Police teams have been sent to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi-Gurgaon and West Bengal to trace and arrest the accused. "This drive is meant to send a strong message to fraudsters operating from different states," Desai said.Desai added that the police are also preparing to invoke provisions of the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) against habitual offenders to ensure stricter action.As part of the crackdown, cases have been registered at police stations such as Salabatpura, Udhna, Saroli, Godadara, Varachha, Laskana and Katargam, areas where a large number of textile markets and units are located. Police have also shared precautionary guidelines with more than 200 textile trade leaders to help prevent such frauds in the future.