Nagpur: The crime branch of Nagpur city police busted a racket through which a Nagpur-based publisher was duped of Rs76 lakh by arresting the key accused from Nalasopara (East), Mumbai. The accused, Roshan Singh alias Piyush Keshav Singh, has over 30 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, and assault, registered against him at Achole police station in Mumbai’s suburbs.The racket was unearthed after a year-long investigation into a massive fraud that targeted a city-based school textbook publishing company. The accused had fraudulently set up fake book shops under forged identities, entered into commission-based agreements with the victim firm to procure large quantities of textbooks. Singh then vanished with the stock, allegedly diverting it to black markets or other distribution networks across the state.Speaking to TOI, inspector Ravindra Naikwad said, “The accused would open bogus agencies with forged documentation, procure books in bulk from publishers under the pretext of distribution, but never pay for the stock. Instead, they would sell the books elsewhere at discounted prices. Once the stock was cleared, they would shut down the agency, change addresses, mobile numbers, and disappear.”The first complaint about the scam was first registered in 2024. However, the scam remained unsolved for months due to the elaborate methods adopted by the perpetrators to erase their digital and physical trail. The accused used multiple fake names, continually changed phone numbers, and created dummy documentation to stay ahead of law enforcement.Acting on specific inputs developed through informants and manual surveillance, the crime branch squad tracked Singh to Nalasopara. A trap was laid, and he was arrested and immediately brought to Nagpur on a transit remand. The crime branch has obtained his PCR custody till July 26 for further interrogation.Another key figure in the case, Chirag Kashinath Dey, was previously named as the main accused. Officials said more arrests are likely as the nexus is believed to involve multiple players across Mumbai, Mira Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, and possibly other cities in Maharashtra.“Singh’s arrest is a breakthrough,” said Inspector Naikwad. “This isn’t just about one publisher being duped. This modus operandi has likely impacted multiple book companies across the state. The seized documents and mobile records are currently being verified. We expect more names to surface during interrogation,” he added.Police are now coordinating with publishing companies to trace the movement of stock and transactions. The crime branch suspects that some of the books were offloaded in black markets in other districts or even sold back to schools at discounted rates using fake channels.
