Twelve people were taken into custody last week in Gujarat for conducting a fictitious Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at a Gandhidham jewellery store. Now, it has been revealed that the gang is led by Abdul Sattar Manjothi, who is the official general secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The fake ED team had conducted a raid at a jewellery store on 2 December that led to the theft of jewelry and cash valued at Rs 22.25 lakh. The group pretended to be ED officials and staged a bogus raid at Radhika Jewellers in Gandhidham on 2nd December and stole the valuables while they were inside the store.
Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi shared the development on X (formerly Twitter) and slammed AAP. He took the main accused’s name and wrote, “Another feat of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has come to light. In Gujarat, a party leader created a fake ED team and looted people by becoming its leader. Fake ED team chief caught in Kutch turns out to be Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party leader. This is the real evidence of the misdeeds of Kejriwal’s disciples.”
Video 1: Fake ED Team under police arrest.
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) December 13, 2024
Photos 2: Captain of Fake ED Team Abdul Sattar, Official General Secretary of AAP.
अरविंद केजरीवाल की आम आदमी पार्टी का एक और कारनामा सामने आया है! गुजरात में पार्टी के नेता ने ईडी की नकली टीम बनाई और उसके कैप्टन बनकर लोगो को लूटा!… pic.twitter.com/Gclq3XpQLP
The minister also shared photographs of Abdul Sattar with senior AAP leaders, including party chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Furthermore, the fake raid team produced bogus identification documents, such as an ID card in the name of Ankit Tiwari, an ED officer. Armed with phoney identification documents, the group entered Radhika Jewellers on the day of the raid and took jewelry and cash estimated at Rs 25.25 lakh. Twelve people have been taken into custody by the police, but Vipin Sharma, one of the perpretrators, is still at large. Authorities have confiscated three cars from the group and discovered gold jewelry priced at Rs 22.27 lakh.
Kutch Police came into action after the businessman filed a complaint. The police informed that the gang included individuals from Ahmedabad, Gandhidham, and Bhuj, and was targeting key businessmen. Upon robbing businessmen in Ahmedabad and Bhuj, the gang decided to defraud retailers in Gandhidham. The gang went to a jewellery store, dressed as ED officials, and conducted ‘raids’ at the businessman’s house and shop. The businessman became suspicious after the ‘raid’ and filed a complaint with the A Division Kutch police.
Police responded promptly and initially arrested two gang members. Preliminary investigations indicated the involvement of more people, and they eventually arrested eight more people in Ahmedabad and Bhuj. Apart from Abdul Sattar Manjothi, others arrested in the case include Bharat Morvadia, Devayat Khachar, Hitesh Thakkar, Vinod Chudasama, Eugene David, Ashish Mishra, Chandraraj Nair, Ajay Debey, Amit Mehta, his wife Nisha Mehta and Shalendra Desai.
