Diamond trader who bought Modi suit ‘duped’ of Rs 1 crore

- April 24, 2019

Kamlesh Kevadia, the general manager of Dharmanandan Diamonds at Katargam, has lodged the complaint of cheating against Himmat Koshiya and his brother Vijay, the owners of a diamond firm at Nandu Doshi Ni Wadi in Katargam.

“The accused neither returned the diamonds nor paid cash. With the same modus operandi, they had also cheated another diamond merchant in Varachha. We are trying to locate the accused Koshiya brothers and will arrest them soon,” said the officer.

The Surat diamond merchant, who had bought the pinstripe ‘name suit’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Rs 4.31 crore in an auction in 2015, has allegedly been cheated of Rs 1 crore by another firm. A complaint of cheating was registered by the general manager of Lalji Patel-owned Dharmanandan Diamonds with Katargam police Tuesday.

Kevadia, a resident of Nani Ved in Surat, in his complaint alleged that they came in contact with Koshiya brothers through a diamond broker, Janak Dhola, five months ago. The Koshiya brothers had allegedly taken rough diamonds worth Rs 1 crore from them on credit around four months ago and failed to repay the amount, Kevadia alleged. He added when they went to the diamond firm they found it shut.

Kevadia further mentioned in his complaint that they had put all efforts to locate the Koshiya brothers, but failed. Katargam Inspector Z N Ghasura said that the Koshiya brothers had taken rough diamonds weighing 1,500 carats worth over Rs 1 crore from Dharmanandan Diamonds. “The accused neither returned the diamonds nor paid cash. With the same modus operandi, they had also cheated another diamond merchant in Varachha. We are trying to locate the accused Koshiya brothers and will arrest them soon,” said the officer.

As one enters the Dharmanandan Diamonds factory, on can see the Narendra Modi’s pinstripe ‘name suit’ carefully placed inside a glass box.