A 36-year-old electronics and mobile trader in Ahmedabad was assaulted by 10 men with sticks and a knife after refusing to pay a ₹50 lakh extortion demand. The attack happened around 2 am on Sunday near a railway crossing and was caught on CCTV.
Kamlesh Santani, a shop owner in Ghodasar running his business for the past 16 years, was attacked by nearly 10 men, reportedly led by Jay Gadhvi and Vishal alias Ulio. Late at night, Kamlesh went to his shop with his friends Bhaveshdan and Arvindgiri after receiving a call from Gadhvi. He had earlier informed his friends that Gadhvi was pressuring him for a ₹50 lakh extortion amount.
While Kamlesh and his two friends were talking outside the shop, three motorcycles and a four-wheeler pulled up. Gadhvi, Vishal, and several unidentified men—armed with sticks and knives—approached them. More men stepped out of the car, also carrying sticks, as the group closed in on the shop.
As per the FIR, Gadhvi charged at Kamlesh, but Arvindgiri stepped in to hold him back. Meanwhile, the other attackers surrounded Kamlesh and began hitting him with sticks. Vishal stabbed him on the right cheek with a knife, causing heavy bleeding, and then struck him with a cement block. Gadhvi also beat Kamlesh with a stick during the assault.
Kamlesh collapsed from the brutal attack, but his friends Bhaveshdan, Arvindgiri, and the shop’s security guard, Vijay Yadav, managed to pull him to safety. Yadav quickly called the police control room, and officers arrived soon after. Kamlesh was taken to the hospital by his friends. The FIR also mentions that Kamlesh had prior dealings with Jay Gadhvi and Vishal, who had visited his shop several times. A dispute had earlier broken out between Kamlesh and Gadhvi over the price of an air conditioner.
While on a family trip to North India, Kamlesh was in Nainital on May 2 when he received a WhatsApp call from Gadhvi, demanding ₹50 lakh to “allow” him to continue his business in Puneetnagar. Gadhvi allegedly threatened to destroy Kamlesh’s shop and break his limbs if he refused to pay.
He continued to harass Kamlesh and kept track of his movements, including his return to Ahmedabad. In the early hours of June 8, around 1 am, shortly after Kamlesh got back to the city, Gadhvi called again, asking him to come to the shop. When Kamlesh arrived around 2 am after dropping off his family, the planned attack took place.
Based on Kamlesh’s complaint, police have filed an FIR against Jay Gadhvi, Vishal alias Ulio, and six others — Arjun Singh Jadeja, Rakesh Solanki, Shubham Deshmukh, Siddhraj alias Bapu, Kunal Barapatre, Kunal Marathi, and Vihar Joshi — under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 135(1) of the Gujarat Police Act. The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are underway to track down and arrest the accused.
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