Jaipur: A 32-year-old jeweller, Gaurav Soni, has been arrested in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, for conning a woman from the US with fake diamonds for ₹6 crore in Jaipur. The police arrested the suspect in collaboration with an informant, as claimed by Additional Deputy Police Commissioner Bajrang Shekhawat. Other than five accused persons arrested in the case, Rajendra Soni, 58, father of Gaurav Soni, is still absconding.
An Indian student, Cherish Nortje, reported the scam after she returned to India in June. She had been patronizing the jewellers of the Soni family shop in Jaipur from the year 2022 onwards. The specifics of the fraud were revealed during a jewellery exhibition in the United States in April last year when the diamonds bought in the shop of the Sonis were found to be fakes. Upon realising this, Nortje went to Jaipur in May to meet the jewellers and lodge a formal complaint.
Police had earlier detained Nand Kishor, who created the imitation jewellery at a laboratory in the Sitapura area of Jaipur. Subsequently thereafter, Nortje, lodged a complaint, and in order to escape, Gaurav and Rajendra Soni escaped arrest. They first lived in Sikar and then shifted to Rewari to split themselves to evade police arrest. Notwithstanding Gaurav Soni’s attempt to flee, the police finally located him in Haridwar, where he was arrested alongside his family on Sunday.
This heist investigation established that the two had been on a mobile spree since May in an attempt to avoid being arrested. Gaurav Soni has now been produced in Jaipur, where he has been charged with fraud for larger cheque bouncing. To date, the police are still trailing Rajendra Soni to solve the case and serve justice to Cherish Nortje.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!