Worker, food delivery man owners of trading firms?

Vadodara: The prevention of crime branch (PCB) was all set to arrest him in connection with the sanitiser scam worth lakhs of rupees. Instead, they ended up giving token money to Hamir Solanki for a return ticket to his hometown in Bhavnagar. Surprising as it may seem, the man who investigators thought was one of the masterminds of the sanitiser scam turned out to be a casual labourer.
“When he was brought in for interrogation, Solanki wasn’t even wearing shoes as he couldn’t afford them. His situation was pitiable. When told about the companies registered in his name, Solanki revealed how his friend had taken his identity documents last year,” said Jatin Patel, police inspector, PCB.

Solanki was in need of Rs 10,000 for his wife’s treatment and his friend promised to get him a bank loan. Solanki gave his ID proofs that were to be used for getting him the loan. Instead Solanki’s identity documents were used for registering four different firms in his name that too with GST numbers.
Similarly, Pradeep Patel, a food delivery guy from Ahmedabad, too was tricked into giving his identity documents. The accused promised him a monthly commission and started Pavan Chemicals in his name. “Investigations revealed that Ashok Patel, who is one of the key accused, floated these shell firms to supply solvent mixed with methanol for executing the sanitiser scam. These firms were shown as solvent suppliers to his company in Subhanpura of Vadodara,” inspector Patel told TOI.
Ashok is co-accused along with Nitin Kotvani, the mastermind of the Rs 10 crore scam. They were arrested last year. “Their modus operandi was to float shell companies, make bogus bills and show the supply of solvents on paper. The accused planned to escape police scrutiny by floating shell firms in the name of gullible persons. Both Solanki and Pradeep have been made witnesses in the case,” Patel added.
The scam surfaced in April last year when duplicate sanitiser mixed with methanol was seized from some shops in Vadodara. Kotvani had supplied this sanitiser stock and a raid at his manufacturing unit helped cops seize duplicate sanitiser stock worth over Rs 45 lakh. He allegedly used to replace ethanol with methanol which is much cheaper but dangerous for health. Ashok Patel has applied for anticipatory bail in Gujarat high court.