AHMEDABAD: A fraudster who rocked Gujarat’s online car market with a Rs 73 lakh fraud has finally landed in police net. Junagadh police nabbed the fraudster from Dahisar, Mumbai, after a high-tech chase across states.
For three years, he duped car buyers and sellers on apps like OLX and CAR-24, trapping victims in 31 cases across 11 districts of Gujarat.
The accused, Piyush Maheshbhai Patel (39), a resident of Visnagar, Mehsana, Gujarat was caught from Dahisar, Mumbai, after an intensive three-day surveillance operation.
The story broke from Junagadh, where on September 25, 2025, a resident filed a complaint at the A-Division Police Station. The fraudster, posing as Dhaval Patel from CAR-24, trapped a local doctor by offering an inflated price for his Swift and luring him with a Brezza in return. Once the deal was set for just Rs 2.25 lakh through Angadiya payment, the scammer switched off his phone and vanished.
The victim’s complaint led SP Subodh Odedara to order immediate action. PI and his team tracked the fraudster’s digital trail, discovering he was operating from Mumbai. Using local intelligence, officers lay in wait inside a Mumbai salon for three days before finally nabbing the accused in Dahisar.
Police interrogation peeled back Patel’s web of deceit. A former schoolteacher and car showroom worker, debt drove him into crime. His modus operandi was chillingly systematic: he would scan car-sale ads on OLX, pose as a CAR-24 agent, and bait owners with high offers. At the same time, he would tempt dealers in nearby cities with “quick-sale” cars at throwaway prices. Once both sides were convinced, Patel collected payments through Angadiya, then switched off his mobile and re-emerged with a new number and a new name.
Patel’s aliases ranged from Dhawal, Arpit, Hardik, Sanjay, Rajendra Panchal, Jaimin, Hemala carousel of fake identities that helped him cheat buyers and sellers of 42 cars in three years.
The confession is staggering: 31 cases registered in 11 districts, including Ahmedabad (6 cases), Gandhinagar, Bharuch, Botad, Banaskantha, Rajkot, and Kutch, with a total fraud of Rs 73.30 lakh. Earlier, he had already duped victims of nearly Rs 1 crore.
From Patel’s possession, police seized a Samsung Galaxy A-35, 13 SIM cards, 3 blank HDFC cheques, and fraud-linked materials. His record reveals he turned Gujarat’s car market into his hunting ground, repeatedly exploiting digital platforms with surgical precision.
The police have now tightened the investigation to identify possible accomplices and recover the looted money.