Raipur’s Urla police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested two persons for allegedly duping over dozen of TMT manufacturers to the tune of around Rs 12 crore.

The arrested accused fraudsters were identified as Bhavesh Patel (40), a native of Gujarat; and Nitesh Goyal (33), of Raipur’s Kabir Nagar, said a police officer.

According to the officer, accused Patel along with Goyal had allegedly purchased TMT bars worth Rs 1.33 crore from Ishwar TMT Urla in May this year and sold them to someone else.

The accused persons did not clear the outstanding payment to Ishwar TMT, switched-off their mobile phones and fled the city following which a complaint was lodged with Urla police station. On the victim’s complaint, Urla police registered an offence under Sections 420, 409 and 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a search for the accused persons was launched. Taking the matter seriously, a police team was dispatched to Gujarat resulting in the arrest of Patel on September 5 and arrested Goyal in Raipur, said the officer, adding that the arrested accused fraudsters were produced here before a local court which sent them to Police Custody Remand (PCR). “During interrogation the accused duo revealed that they have duped around 16 companies to the tune of around Rs 12 crore,” the officer said. The officer further informed that on being subjected to interrogation, the accused revealed that in 2019, Income Tax Department raided his establishment Jai Durga Steels located in Raipur’s Fafadih following which he suffered massive loss in the business. Thereafter, the accused involved Goyal in his trading business and told every businessman that Swasthik Steels, which is owned by the latter, belongs to him. After winning the confidence of the victims, the accused placed orders for TMT bars in separate sizes and shapes worth several crores to Ishwar Steels and sold the material to others. The accused did not make the payment and fled in June this year. The accused fraudsters were sent to judicial custody, he said.