Surat: Sarthana police on Thursday arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly cheating eatery owners by exploiting the cooking gas crisis triggered by the Iran war.The accused contacted several eateries in Surat that he came across on social media reels and offered prompt delivery of gas cylinders. The owners transferred money but did not receive the cylinders within the promised time. According to a complaint filed by Vijay Sorathiya, 41, who owns a bhajiya unit at Ring Road Chowk in the Sarthana police jurisdiction, he got a call on April 6 from the accused, Keval Tejani, 35, while he was at home. Tejani identified himself as being from Indian Oil Corporation and offered a gas cylinder for Rs 2,650. As Sorathiya urgently needed gas for his eatery, he ordered five cylinders. Tejani demanded advance payment, citing the high demand and sent Sorathiya a QR code for payment. Sorathiya transferred Rs 13,250 after being promised that the cylinders would be delivered in an hour. However, despite repeated calls and messages, the cylinders were not delivered. Realizing he had been cheated, Sorathiya contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 and lodged a complaint. Sorathiya later learnt that two other eatery owners, Pravin Padshala and Piyush Bhikhadiya, had been cheated in a similar manner. They transferred Rs 6,900 and Rs 13,250 respectively to Tejani. Deputy commissioner of police Alok Kumar said: “Tejani’s modus operandi was to watch reels of popular restaurants and other eateries on social media. He would get the phone numbers from hoardings of eateries or from the reels themselves. He would then contact the eateries and offer gas cylinders. We learned he is a serial cheat as he has seven FIRs registered against him in the Varachha, Kapodra and Utran police stations.” Police said Tejani exploited the situation arising from the Iran war and contacted eatery owners when the commercial gas shortage was at its peak.
