Fugitive Dipakkumar Thakkar extradited to India from UAE, arrested by Gujarat Police
Dipakkumar Thakkar was wanted in a case involving illegal cricket betting, stock market trading, and hawala transactions amounting to Rs 2,273 crore.
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The Ministry of Home Affairs sent an Extradition Proposal for Dipakkumar Thakkar to the UAE government on June 25.A team from the Gujarat Police earlier this week brought back wanted fugitive Dipakkumar Thakkar from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he was already under arrest on the basis of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by the Interpol.
A security escort team of the Gujarat Police, led by DIG Nirlipt Rai of the State Monitoring Cell (SMC), headed to Dubai on August 27, 2024. They took custody of Dipakkumar Thakkar and brought him to India. He was placed under arrest in Gandhinagar at 12.30 pm on Sunday.
A statement from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Thakkar was wanted in a criminal case registered on March 25, 2023, at Madhavpura Police Station, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, for being a kingpin of an international illegal criminal gambling racket, operating through the use of special software applications and utilising Hawala channels for dispersal of proceeds of crime reported to be over Rs 2,273 crore.
Notably, the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) of the Gujarat Police had been investigating this case that was filed under sections of the Prevention of Gambling Act, the IT Act, as well as the Securities Contract Regulation Act.
The complaint stated that the accused person had, in an office in Vejalpur, engaged in stock market dabba trading through the Meta Trader Application on the Velocity Server. They had made illegal trades in the stock market.
The main accused or kingpin named in the police complaint was Thakkar. He hailed from Bhabhar in Banaskantha but was residing in Dubai. The SMC obtained an open-dated arrest warrant under CrPC section 70 against him.
When the police realized Thakkar had fled India on July 12, 2023, a lookout circular (LOC) was issued against him. The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) then approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who put in a request to Interpol. The international agency then issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Thakkar on December 15, 2023.
The RCN was circulated to all Interpol member countries to locate and arrest the accused. Through Interpol, the subject was geolocated in Dubai. Based on the RCN, the UAE police arrested Thakkar from Dubai on March 13 this year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sent an Extradition Proposal for Thakkar to the UAE government on June 25, 2024. The UAE granted this request for extradition on August 8. After this, the team led by DIG Rai headed to Dubai.
Thakkar was one of the 36 accused arrested in this case. Earlier, the SMC seized all electronics and froze 47 illegal trading accounts run from the Vejalpur office. Further investigation is underway.
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