Supply-chain scam: Ahmedabad police dismantle gadget-swapping interstate syndicate

AHEMDABAD: The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch has busted a sophisticated interstate gang that allegedly cheated major e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart and Amazon, by infiltrating their delivery supply chains and swapping premium gadgets with dummy products, police said on Saturday. Officials said the syndicate placed its associates as delivery boys in courier services across cities such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Jalore. Using multiple fake user IDs and passwords, the gang would place orders for expensive electronics. Before the parcels reached customers, an insider would intercept the shipment. Using specialised tools, the accused carefully opened the packages, removed the original high-end devices and replaced them with lookalike dummies.

The orders were then cancelled or marked for return, while the stolen gadgets were sold in the grey market for profit, police said. In the operation, the Crime Branch arrested five people — Ramlal alias Romil Gahlot, Manoj Kumar Mali, Bharat Kumar Sundesha, Vishal Hasmukhbhai Panchal and Vishal Kanjibhai Bavri. Two others, Rishipal Bhati and Vinod, are on the run. During the crackdown, police recovered eight genuine mobile phones, 25 dummy phones, three dummy earbuds, 12 dummy gaming processors, a camera lens and an electric hair dryer.

During questioning, the accused confessed to several similar frauds in recent months. Police said the gang fraudulently obtained an iPhone 17 Pro Max and three iPhone 16 Pro units in Vadodara in January 2026, stole seven mobile phones and 10 Apple Watches in Surat in October 2025, and took two Apple Watches in Jalore in December 2025. Sections 61(2)(a) and 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have been invoked against the accused, and further investigation is underway to trace the remaining suspects and wider links of the racket.