29 textile traders cheated of Rs 85 lakh, two brothers booked in Surat

SURAT: As many as 29 textile traders from the city have fallen victim to a scam allegedly orchestrated by two brothers from Rajasthan, resulting in a collective loss of Rs 85.12 lakh to the businessmen.
The accused, Vikas Kumawat and his brother Parmeshwar, purchased saris and other textile materials from these traders since 2022 but did not make the agreed payments.
The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) registered a case against both brothers and their father, Sitaram Kumawat, who serves as the administrator of their two firms.
According to the complainant, Ashish Agrawal, owner of 'Jay Baba Textile' firm in Surat, the Kumawat brothers approached him in Sepr 2022, introducing themselves as the proprietors of Govind Textile and Puranmal Sitara firms. They assured Agrawal of timely payments within 60 days through a broker, prompting him to commence selling them saris. Agrawal initially sent a consignment of 2,000 saris and continued the business as payments were received on time.
However, the brothers abruptly ceased making payments and started offering various excuses. The cheques issued by them also bounced. Upon reviewing the accounts, Agrawal discovered that a total of Rs 8.83 lakhs remained unpaid by either of their firms.
In May 2024, Agrawal learned from other traders in Sikar that the Kumawat brothers had shut down their shop and fled the city. Further inquiries in the Surat market revealed that at least 28 other traders had not received payments from the accused duo.
A tally of the outstanding amounts owed to these traders revealed that, in addition to Agrawal's Rs 8.83 lakhs, the duo had failed to pay Rs 76.28 lakhs to the other 28.
Consequently, the DCB police have registered an FIR against the Kumawat brothers and their father under BNS sections 420 and 120B for cheating. The economic offences cell of DCB has been entrusted with the investigation.