Surat: Udhna police arrested one of the masterminds of the Rs 1,550-crore cyberfraud that was exposed in May last year. The accused, Divyesh Chakrani (26), had fled to Dubai soon after the scam was unearthed. He was arrested immediately after landing at Surat airport from a Sharjah flight, police said.Chakrani’s arrest marks the 30th in the case, in which investigators have filed Gujarat’s largest-ever chargesheet in a cybercrime case, running into 1.5 lakh pages.According to police, Chakrani and co-accused Kirat Jadwani were earlier engaged in the textile business in Surat. After suffering heavy losses in 2020–21, they joined hands with a Surat-based cybercrime syndicate. Chakrani played a key role in supplying mule current accounts to Chinese gangs operating from Dubai.He coordinated with co-accused Mayur Italaiya, Meet Khokhar and Jadwani to arrange these accounts. The group allegedly floated shell firms and opened current accounts with the help of bank officials, which were then used to route and launder the fraud proceeds.Police said Chakrani, who holds a UAE golden visa, fled to Mumbai immediately after Udhna police raided multiple offices in May last year and fled to Dubai. He initially stayed with Chinese gang members but gradually ran out of money. His attempts to restart a textile business in Dubai also failed.Meanwhile, his family urged him to return to India to meet his fiancée, as he was already engaged. Believing that the police may no longer be tracking him, Chakrani booked a flight from Sharjah. However, he was arrested upon arrival, as Surat police had issued a lookout circular against him.With his arrest, the total number of accused held in the case has risen to 30, one of the highest in any cybercrime investigation in Gujarat. The arrests include eight bank officials — the largest number of bankers booked in a single cyberfraud case in the state.Udhna police had busted the international cybercrime ring during a routine vehicle-checking drive on May 21 last year. A man riding a moped was stopped in the Ramnagar area of Udhna, during which police recovered several cheque books and bank kits from his possession. On questioning, he told investigators that the items belonged to his associates, Meet Khokhar and Kirat Jadwani. Acting on the tip-off, police raided their office in Mota Varachha and recovered a large cache of cheque books, debit cards, SIM cards and bank kits. Subsequent investigation revealed fraudulent transactions amounting to Rs 1,550 crore routed through 164 bank accounts.
