Surat: Crime branch sleuths arrested five more accused on Tuesday for their role in the Rs20-crore diamond loot case in Katargam area of the city. Earlier, police had arrested eight accused in the case and majority of them are from Uttar Pradesh.
Those arrested were Shashanksinh alias Mohit Vishwapratapsinh Bhardwaj; Ujjwaldeep alias Yudi Brijmohan Singh Rajput; Ankitkumar alias Doctor Karmvirsingh Chamar; Avnish Mahipalsingh Jat Malik; and Vijay alias Dhadu Bhismasinh Singhval Chamar. Of these five accused, Shashanksinh was a close aide of the key accused Arjun Pandey and was managing his Advance Powerguard Pvt Ltd, a security service agency.
The gang’s involvement in two other diamond loot cases has also come to notice. Some of the gang members had fired at Mammu alias Mohammad Hussain Chand Mohammad Hansoti on December 25, 2017, when he was near Raja Ovara under the limits of Lalgate police station. Altaf Patel and Vipul Gajipara had given a contract of Rs5 lakh to kill Hansoti to Azad Pathan, who is yet to be arrested.
Those held earlier were Arjun alias Arvind Santnarayan Pandey; Manvendra alias Manish Krushnakumarsingh Thakur; Satendrakumar Mehaksingh Jat; Pradeep alias Monu Dharamsinh Gujjar; Raju alias Chochu Jitendrainh Gujjar; Sunitkumar alias Sumit Sukhpal Chamar; Upendra Rajendra Jat; and Sonu Surendrasinh Gujjar.
On March 14, the robbers fired at the car of the three employees of Glow Star Diamond and escaped with diamond parcels from Katargam. Police have recovered the looted diamonds from the residence of one of the accused.
Accused in police custody
