SURAT: These are surely not ‘achhe din’ for the diamond merchant from Surat, who paid Rs.4.31 crore to buy the Prime Minister’s famous pinstripe suit (with ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’ emblazoned on it) at an auction in 2015.
Laljibhai Patel, who owns Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd, is poorer by at least Rs 1 crore, after two brothers failed to pay for the rough diamonds they had taken on credit from his firm last year.
A complaint was registered in this context on April 22. The two brothers have been identified as Himmat and Vijay Koshia. As per the FIR, the Koshia brothers had won the trust of the company and allegedly taken rough diamonds weighing 1,500 carats worth Rs 1 crore, on credit in October 2018.
It is claimed the duo, who are on the run now, had promised to make the payment in 120 days, which is a norm in the diamond industry. However, when the manager of the diamond merchant called them up for the payment after the credit period lapsed, their mobile phones were found to be switched off, the FIR said.
The Koshia brothers also became untraceable and their office in the Katargam area was found locked. According to the police, the Koshia brothers have cheated other diamond traders in the past. The suit, however, is safely ensconced in a glass display box at the company. Perhaps, the two brothers did not realise its true worth.