Surat: Surat cybercrime police arrested the mastermind of a Rs 5-crore virtual diamond heist of May 2025 who had been on the run for over a year, after he entered India through Nepal from Dubai.Nitin Vadchak alias Kano allegedly had posed as a US-based diamond trader and duped Surat traders into sending seven diamonds worth around Rs 5 crore to buyers in Dubai, Thailand and Hong Kong on seven-day payment terms. The traders then sent seven diamonds but they never got the payment.Dr Karanraj Vaghela, additional commissioner of police (crime), told TOI, “Nitin knew that the police were keeping an eye on him. He flew from Dubai to Nepal and then travelled by road to Delhi. From Delhi, he came to Ahmedabad and finally reached Surat.”Ten people, including Vadchak, were booked in the diamond heist case.Police said Vadchak posed as a representative of a US-based diamond company. He sourced details of US diamond firms and photographs of their employees online before contacting Surat diamond traders through WhatsApp using a US country-code number. His profile picture showed a genuine employee of the US firm.When traders sought verification, he provided names and photographs of genuine employees, convincing them that they were dealing with an authentic buyer.Police said Vadchak used RapNet, an international online marketplace for high-value diamonds, to identify diamonds offered by Surat traders and target them.From ‘kitli’ to Dubai’s cybercrime networkVadchak, who studied up to Class 12, started with sari job work before opening a tea stall named Madhuli in Surat. His ambition to make quick money took him to Dubai, where he dreamt of opening a hotel. Unable to arrange finances, he returned to Surat. His Dubai contacts later introduced him to forex trading and eventually to Chinese cybercrime gangs operating from Dubai, police said. Vadchak used his Surat contacts to arrange mule bank accounts, becoming a link between the Chinese gangs and cyberfraudsters in Surat. He paid bank managers up to Rs 1.20 lakh to facilitate the opening of mule accounts used to route cyberfraud proceeds.
