‘Angadia’ flees with ₹76 lakh of imitation jewellery firm

A man claiming to be an angadia has been booked for allegedly fleeing with ?76 lakh belonging to an imitation jewellery company in Mumbai. The accused, identified as Ankit Patel, had been messaging the complainant, Mohammad Maharuf Haji Madani Kapadia, offering courier services. After Kapadia handed over the cash to Patel's employee, the party in Hyderabad did not receive the money. The police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against Patel and are searching for him. The accused has cheated more traders using a similar modus operandi, suspect the police.

MUMBAI: A man, who claimed to be an angadia, has been booked for allegedly fleeing with ₹76 lakh belonging to an imitation jewellery company.

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According to the Pydhonie police, the complainant, Mohammad Maharuf Haji Madani Kapadia, 31,who works with Ali Traders, wanted to send the money to Hyderabad. However, as the regular angadias (local couriers who transfer cash) employed by the firm refused to take up the job, citing cash crunch, Kapadia got in touch with the man, identified as Ankit Patel, who had been messaging him regularly for the courier job.

Kapadia told the police that he takes care of the business whenever the firm’s owner Mohammad Faraz Akthar Upletwala travels outside the city. The complainant added that on May 25, the firm’s owner called him from Dubai and asked him if he knew any angadia in Hyderabad. He tried regular angadias, who told him that they were short of cash.

Therefore, the complainant got in touch with Patel, who agreed to transfer the amount by charging a meagre sum of ₹50 per lakh.

“Patel then sent a photo of a torn ₹10 note to Kapadia on WhatsApp and asked him to handover ₹76.51 lakh ( ₹75 lakh to be transferred to Hyderabad plus his charges) to his employee, who was supposed to carry a photograph of the remaining part of the torn note,” the police said. Accordingly, Kapadia handed over the cash to a person, identified as Manish, sent by Patel.

The police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against Patel.

“We are searching for him. He earlier had an office in Ahmedabad,” a police officer said. The police suspect the accused has cheated more traders using similar modus operandi.