PMLA probe complete, asked banks to unfreeze accounts of bootlegger’s brother: Gujarat Police tells HC

On Thursday, as the petition came up for hearing, the government public prosecutor informed the court that the SMC, had, through a communication to the banks in April, directed that the two accounts held by Rajesh Udhwani be “unfreezed” as the “investigation was done”.
The court, in an oral order, disposed of the petition and said, “In view of the communication dated 29.04.2025 prepared by the Police Sub-Inspector, State Monitoring Cell, Gujarat State, the application stands disposed of as having become infructuous.”

In his petition before the HC, the petitioner stated that he runs a liquor business in Rajasthan and a retail cloth store in Vadodara city. He challenged the seizure of his two bank accounts with the HDFC and the Bank of Baroda, which was effected by both banks in July 2022, on the directions of the SMC.

The petition stated that Rajesh Udhwani “has no criminal antecedent and is not involved in any criminal activity”. The petitioner had stated that he “has reasons to believe that his bank accounts were seized because several offences under the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949, have been registered against his brother.”

Rajesh Udhawani’s advocate Rahul Sharma told The Indian Express, “The petition contended that seizure of bank accounts of any person, without there being any connection with any crime, is not permissible under law. There is also no reason for the police to suspect the commission of any crime. Therefore, the prayer was that the order of the SMC to seize the accounts of the petitioner be quashed and set aside and the petitioner be allowed to operate his bank account without any hindrance… The SMC had frozen the accounts without following the process of law.”

In a letter sent to the manager of the banks in April, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, SMC, directed that the accounts be “unfreezed”.
The letter, which is now part of the annexures presented before the HC by the petitioner, and signed by Police Sub-inspector of SMC, said, “An offence has been registered (in 2021)… for the purpose of PMLA (money laundering) proposal of the accused and to further investigate the case, the Investigating Officer JH Dahiya, Police Inspector SMC Gandhinagar, with cited reference letter, has examined account details of the accounts connected and familiar with the main accused… and after that the IO had requested your bank to freeze and mark this account as ‘No Debit’ till further instructions from his office… Investigation of the account has been done… so you are requested to unfreeze the account.”

The petitioner’s brother, Vijay Udhwani alias Viju Sindhi, is an alleged bootlegger who has multiple cases against him across the state as well as a red corner notice. Vijay has been on the run since his name cropped up in the murder of gangster Mukesh Harjani in Vadodara in 2016.
In February, the SMC had booked Vijay under the GUCTOC Act along with his gang members in hundreds of collective cases. Vijay has challenged the FIR in the Gujarat HC.