Diamond Dealer Swindled Out of Rare Gem in Surat
Chirag Shah and his son Akshat were tricked into exchanging a rare diamond for a fake one by a man posing as a buyer
Chirag Shah, a diamond trader in Surat, was tricked out of a rare 10.08-carat heart-shaped diamond worth Rs 4.55 crore by a man pretending to be a buyer. The swindler, named Hitesh Purohit, swapped the valuable diamond with a lab-grown one worth only Rs 1 lakh. The incident happened during a deal arranged through RapNet, a trusted diamond trading platform. Shah filed a police report with the Mahidharpura police.
The story began when Bharat Prajapati, a diamond trader, told Shah’s son, Akshat, about a 10.08-carat diamond listed on RapNet. The diamond was certified by GIA with D colour and VVS2 purity. Another trader, Hitesh Purohit, showed interest in buying it. Akshat contacted the diamond’s owner, Yogesh Kaklotkar, and brought the gem for Purohit to see.
On June 8, Prajapati, along with brokers Sunny and Milan Suradkar, visited Shah’s office with Purohit. Purohit negotiated the price but wanted to delay the payment. Shah insisted on full payment upfront, causing the deal to stall. Later, Sunny assured Shah that Purohit was ready to pay a down payment. On June 25, Akshat got the diamond from Kaklotar again, and he and his father went to Purohit’s office to finish the deal.
At the meeting, Purohit examined the diamond and its certificate and suggested a partial down payment of Rs 10 lakh, promising to pay the rest upon delivery. He then left the office, saying he needed to get more money. He left the diamond on the table, but Akshat soon realized it was a lab-grown fake. Shah and Akshat tried to find Purohit but couldn’t. They repeatedly tried to contact him without success and eventually reported the incident to the police. Dinesh Navadiya, president of the Indian Diamond Institute, said, “This is a rare diamond due to its size and colour. In the diamond industry, D colour is the highest grade.”
Inspector H M Chauhan from the Mahidharpura police said, “We have formed five teams, one of which is in Palanpur, Purohit’s hometown. We are also investigating two others, Kamlesh and Ashok.” Chauhan is confident they will catch all the suspects soon. The police are actively looking for Purohit and his accomplices, using multiple teams to track down those involved in the scam against Surat’s diamond trading community.
