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Indian Express
23-07-2025
- Indian Express
How 19-year-old Bhuj boy's Goa ‘escapade' uncovered family friend's bid to hide a crime
A case of two teenagers allegedly escaping from their house in Bhuj to Goa — only to get caught by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch while trying to board a flight to Kolkata later — saw an interesting twist after a complaint by the mother of one of the boys and the subsequent arrest of two men. Arrested accused Rahul Solanki and Ravi Maheswari were allegedly blackmailing 19-year-old Ishan Singh Rajput and forcing him to flee to Goa with friends. While co-accused Ravi's role is still under investigation, Rahul, who allegedly took away cash and jewellery from the teenager's house, wanted a cover-up for the crime. As Ishan's mother, Twinkle Singh Rajput, was already not in the city when Rahul committed the crime, the accused wanted to make it look like a theft had taken place after Ishan had left for Goa and there was nobody at the house, police said. A day after Ishan and another 17-year-old were 'rescued' by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad and handed over to their families who had accompanied the police from Kutch, the Bhuj 'A' Division police filed an FIR based on the complaint of Twinkle. They are now investigating a case of blackmail and extortion. As per the FIR, seen by The Indian Express, complainant Twinkle, a 50-year-old whose husband passed away in January, stated that while she lives in Bhuj with her 19-year-old son (Ishan) who studies in Class 12, her 27-year-old daughter studies in a college in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow. The complainant said that on July 16, she had gone to Lucknow and that she had kept all her jewellery and other valuables in the locker of their house before leaving. Five days later, on July 21 morning, her daughter told her that she had received a call from her brother Ishan who said he had left for Goa and that they should not follow him if they did not want him to take an 'adverse step', the FIR states. Soon after, the complainant received a call from her 'family friend' Rahul, who is in his 20s, and she informed him that she was returning to Bhuj and asked him to pick her up at the airport. Around 3.15 pm on July 21, the complainant landed in Bhuj where she was picked up by Rahul. She said she sat in an SUV and Rahul drove her home. Rahul allegedly also told her that he had spoken to Ishan around 10 pm on July 20 and that Ishan told him that he was in Goa, but refused to share further details. After Rahul dropped her home, Twinkle went to her room only to find her cupboard and locker open, allegedly with valuables worth around Rs 32.30 lakh missing. In her complaint, Twinkle also said that she initially thought that her son Ishan had fled with the valuables. She then went with Rahul to Bhuj 'A' Division police station where she informed the police about her missing son. The police launched a probe. Soon, they found out that Ishan and another minor were in Ahmedabad and were likely on their way to Goa. Inspector A M Patel of Bhuj 'A' Division police called his batchmate, Inspector Mahendra Salhunke of Ahmedabad DCB, and sought help. The Crime Branch, with the help of technical surveillance, traced the two teens to a hotel in Ahmedabad. Inspector Salhunke told The Indian Express, 'After we received information about the boys from Bhuj police on Monday evening, we launched a technical surveillance and found that they were staying at a hotel. By the time we reached the hotel, they had checked out. However, we learnt that they were headed to the airport and were going to fly out of the city.' The Crime Branch then informed the airport police and staffers about the boys and requested them not to allow the boys to board a flight. When Crime Branch officials and the airport police spotted the youths, they had already completed their luggage check-in process, but were eventually stopped from boarding a flight to Kolkata and handed over to the Bhuj police. It was then that the complainant asked her son Ishan as to why he had run away from home. Twinkle told the police, 'Ishan told me that two months ago, he had consumed liquor and smoked cigarettes with Rahul and that the latter had thereafter shown him videos that he had taken of Ishan engaging in these vices. Ishan said Rahul had asked him to steal Rs 15 lakh from our house and give it to him threatening to share the video with me (Twinkle).' As per the FIR, Ishan told his mother that on July 18, Rahul had visited Ishan at his house, threatened him with the videos again and obtained the location of the locker where the valuables were kept. He then allegedly tried to break open the locker, but failed. Rahul left after Ishan started crying, it stated. Ishan further told his mother that on July 19 night, while he was playing video games with his two minor friends, Rahul arrived to threaten him again. After Rahul allegedly failed to break open the locker again, Rahul allegedly took Ishan to a key-maker near a mall to get a duplicate key made for the locker. To allay the key-maker's suspicion, Rahul allegedly told him that Ishan was an officer at the Air Force base in Naliya and that he needed to submit some documents early in the morning, but those were inside a locker and they needed to access it immediately. The FIR further stated that they got the key made around 12.15 am on July 20. Rahul then took the valuables from the house and left. The next day, Rahul met Ishan again and asked him to leave for Goa and stay there for a few days, promising that after the matter of theft subsides, he would call Ishan back, the FIR also stated. Ishan said Rahul allegedly gave him and the two friends Rs 70,000 and booked a Goa package for them. However one of his minor friends refused to go, and thus only Ishan left with the other friend for Ahmedabad. They, however, missed their flight to Goa and stayed in a hotel in Ahmedabad, as instructed by Rahul, who also asked them to book another flight to Kolkata. Rahul also allegedly informed them that the police were looking for the two and asked them not to give away their location. Before they could board the flight to Kolkata, they were caught.. Police Inspector Patel said, 'Rahul Bhagwanji Solanki and Ravi Mohan Maheshwari were booked under BNS sections 308(5) (extortion), 351 (criminal intimidation), 61 (criminal conspiracy), and 46 (abettor present).' Further investigation is underway.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- The Hindu
Stolen 150-year-old kalash from Ahmedabad's Sarkhej Roza recovered, four held
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch police have recovered the 150-year-old sacred 'Panjtan Pak Kalash', stolen from the Sarkhej Roza mausoleum, a nationally protected monument in the Gujarat capital. The police have arrested four persons for the theft, while four others are absconding. The theft, reported at the Sarkhej police station on July 1, involved the disappearance of a Panjtan Pak Kalash — a religious urn made of Panchdhatu (five metals) — from the dome of Sheikh Ahmad Khattu Ganj Bakhsh's mausoleum, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajit Rajian. It was installed on the dome of the mausoleum of Sheikh Ahmad Khattu Ganj Bakhsh — the spiritual mentor of Sultan Ahmad Shah, founder of Ahmedabad. The artefact is deeply revered in the Islamic faith and holds significant cultural and spiritual value for devotees, who tie threads of mannat (faith) to it. Sarkhej Roza was built around 1445 CE. 'Considering the religious and cultural sensitivity of the site, a special team of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch immediately initiated a thorough investigation and arrested four persons, while four more are at large,' Mr. Rajian said. 'Panjtan Pak' refers to the five holy members of Prophet Muhammad's family. 'Architecturally, the site represents a 575-year-old Indo-Islamic masterpiece, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India since 1921. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List and played a pivotal role in Ahmedabad's recognition as a World Heritage City in 2017,' Mr. Rajian said. The police official said: 'The probe included extensive CCTV footage review, aerial drone surveys of nearby lakes and remote areas, and the use of technical surveillance. We traced the accused to Kadi town in Mehsana district, where they were reportedly planning to sell the artefact.' The four accused arrested were: Sureshbhai Dharmshibhai Dantani (40), a labourer from Chaprama, Kadi, Mehsana, originally from Peparana village in Harij taluka, Patan district; Gopalbhai Dharmshibhai Dantani (30), labourer, and younger brother of Sureshbhai, with the same residential details; Munnabhai Jayantibhai Dantani (23), labourer, also from Chaprama, with family roots in Chanasma, Patan; and Vishnubhai Chunabhai Dantani (22), labourer, resident of Rajvinagar, Jotana, Mehsana, originally from Shedhal, Chanasma, Patan. While those absconding are: Dinesh Dharmshibhai Dantani, resident of Chaprama, Kadi, Mehsana, native of Peparana, Patan; Kishorbhai Somabhai Dantani, resident of Mahemdabad, Kheda district; Jaliben Somabhai Dantani, resident of Chaprama, Kadi, Mehsana, a native of Peparana, Harij, Patan, and Dasu Dantani, a resident of Pendarpur, Chanasma, Patan.
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Indian Express
Wanted for ‘defrauding jeweller of ornaments worth Rs 12.77 crore', Mumbai-based trader held in Ahmedabad
Wanted in Maharashtra in a Ponzi scam involving allegedly defrauding a jeweller of ornaments worth Rs 12.77 crore, a Mumbai-based businessman was arrested in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Birju Salla from a five-star hotel in the city. In 2017, Salla was nabbed after he allegedly put a hijack threat note inside a Jet Airways plane following which the flight had to make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad. Though a special NIA court in Ahmedabad had sentenced Salla to life imprisonment, he was granted bail by the Gujarat High Court in 2023 for want of evidence. In the latest case, Salla was booked by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Mumbai, based on the complaint of a jeweller, Shailesh Jain. According to the FIR lodged at Mumbai's L T Marg police station, in November 2024, Salla had taken 7,214 grams of gold worth Rs 5.55 lakh along with 32,915 grams of silver and precious diamonds worth Rs 8.15 crore from Jain, a jeweller based in Zaveri Bazar, on the pretext of selling it to a customer, who wanted 'antique and handmade jewellery'. In his FIR, Jain stated that Salla promised to pay him the money based on the quantities sold, and return the rest of the jewellery. Jain told police that though Salla returned some of the jewellery, he has been 'evading' the complainant even as he continues to allegedly possess 5,972 grams of gold and 18,965 grams of silver and some diamond jewellery. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Detection of Crime Branch, Ahmedabad City, Ajit Rajiaan told The Indian Express that Salla is currently being questioned by the Crime Branch in Ahmedabad. 'He has a history of involvement in bomb and hijack threats, so we are also probing him on that. He is wanted in a Ponzi scam in Maharashtra,' the DCP added. Salla was convicted and awarded life imprisonment by an NIA court, under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, in July 2019 for allegedly keeping a hijack threat note in a Jet Airways flight on October 30, 2017. In August 2023, a Division Bench of the Gujarat HC, comprising Justice A S Supehia and Justice M R Mengdey, had acquitted Salla for lack of evidence linking him to the hijack note. The Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Delhi had made an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad airport after a note was found that stated that there were 'hijackers on board the flight and the aircraft should be flown straight to PoK'.
Hindustan Times
15-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Teen behind Air India crash viral video thought plane ‘was going to land'
A 17-year-old Aryan Asari, the boy who recorded a viral video of the Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday, said that he thought the aircraft was "going to land", but instead it crashed and went up in flames. Police treated the teen as an eyewitness to the tragedy and recorded his statement on Saturday. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch said he came with his father to give the statement. Air India's AI171 Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel complex of BJ Medical College in Meghani Nagar within minutes of its takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The tragedy claimed the lives of 241 aboard the aircraft, leaving just one survivor. Additionally, more than 20 persons present on the ground at the time of the incident also lost their lives. A total of 270 persons were killed in the plane crash. Aryan Asari's video gave the initial perspective of the incident. Speaking to news agency ANI, he said that as the plane was passing from a very close range, he thought of shooting a video to show to his friends. He had gone up to the terrace to witness the low-flying aircraft. "The plane went downwards, and I thought it was going to land as the airport was nearby. But when it went down, flames started coming up, and we saw that it had exploded," Asari said. The teen recalled how "scared" he felt in that moment, and said he showed the video to his sister, and told his father about the same. Earlier, his sister told news agency PTI how Asari expressed his wish not to live in the area anymore as "it is dangerous". Asari on Sunday returned to his native village in Aravalli district to resume his class 12 studies. The teenager arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12, the same day as the plane crash, to purchase textbooks. "I cleared the class 11 exam last month and secured admission in class 12. I came to Ahmedabad on June 12 to purchase textbooks. I reached my father's rented house at around 12:30 pm," Asari said. Aryan Asari's father, a retired Army personnel, had recently taken up a job as a security guard with the Ahmedabad Metro and was living at a rented accommodation in the Meghani Nagar area. The owner of the rented home, Kailashba, also commented on Asari's experience and said, "He had come to Ahmedabad for the first time and within hours of his arrival, he ended up witnessing such a horrific event. The video he captured was initially sent to his father and later went viral". Meanwhile, an official on Sunday said that the identities of 47 victims have been matched through DNA testing, and bodies of 24 have been handed over to their respective families.
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Teen who recorded viral Air India crash video ‘very scared', records statement
A 17-year-old boy, who unknowingly captured the deadly crash of Air India AI171 in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday, recorded his statement to the police as an eyewitness. Having captured the tragedy that claimed the lives of 270 persons, the teenager was left in distress and fear. Follow Ahmedabad plane crash live updates Speaking to reporters, the boy, identified as Aryan, said that he was just normally filming the Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner aircraft near his rented home when it suddenly crashed and turned into a "ball of fire". The video that Aryan captured was the one visual that gave netizens, as well as the media, the initial view of the unfortunate accident. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch issued a statement to say that Aryan's statement was recorded, and to clarify that no person was arrested for making the video, news agency PTI reported. "He came with his father to give a statement as a witness. He was then sent away with his father. No arrests or detentions have been made," the police said. Meanwhile, Aryan recounted the horrifying tragedy while speaking to reporters and said how within mere 24 seconds of the recording, the Air India airliner crashed. "I felt very scared. My sister was the first one to see the video. I feel very scared because of what I saw," the teenager said. His sister also expressed concern over her brother's well-being, saying that Aryan told her "he does not want to live here because it is dangerous", adding that the is very scared and unable to speak properly. The landlady of Aryan's rented home, which is situated near the airport, also recounted seeing the teenager after the incident. "I found that he was unable to speak. I assured remained awake for the entire night. He has become quiet, not even eating anything," she said. Within minutes of its takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 11, Gatwick-bound Air India AI171 flight crashed into a medical hostel complex in Meghani Nagar area. The crash of the plane, which was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, left behind just one survivor. Rest of the 241 passengers lost their lives to the tragedy. Additionally, 29 others, who were present on the ground in and around the medical hostel complex, were also killed. The death toll in the Ahmedabad plane crash, as of Saturday, stood at 270. The ministry of civil aviation revealed in a press conference on Saturday that the Air India aircraft had climbed to just 650 feet before it began to lose altitude. "As per the ATC, when it tried to contact the aircraft then there was no response. After exactly one minute, the aircraft crashed in Meghani Nagar, situated about 2 km from the airport,' said civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha.
