Karanja Port fishers duped of ₹1 crore by export firms, 7 booked

A police team visited the Karanja Port on the evening of October 31 to verify the allegations, said the officer, and added that more traders are expected to come forward with similar complaints

NAVI MUMBAI: Two large-scale frauds at the Karanja Fishing Port, Uran, involving exporters from Gujarat and Mumbai who allegedly cheated local fishermen and traders of fish worth nearly ₹1 crore, were recently unearthed after a fish trader filed a complaint with the police. The police registered separate FIRs against seven people on Saturday.

Karanja Port fishers duped of ₹1 crore by export firms, 7 booked

The complainant, Amrit Vasant Koli, 36, is a fish trader from Navapada, Karanja. Koli sources fish from local fishers and supplies it to export firms. According to the FIRs, Koli was duped by two export companies, whose representatives reportedly placed an order for large quantities of fish but allegedly did not make the promised payments even after delivery.

The first case involves a Mumbai-based firm and was registered against five persons – three men from Veraval in Gujarat, along with two from Mumbai. Between October 18 and December 1, 2024, through Koli, the accused allegedly procured fish worth ₹74 lakh from fishers after assuring payment for the consignment, commission, ice, and loading charges. “After accepting the delivery, they allegedly vanished without clearing the dues,” said a police officer.

The second case, involving a Gujarat-based firm, named two businessmen as accused. They allegedly carried out a similar fraud worth ₹27 lakh between October 12 and December 1, 2024, by purchasing fish from Karanja Port on credit, and then refusing to pay for the catch and commissions owed. Both cases have been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. “Both involve a similar modus operandi, and we are investigating whether they are part of a coordinated racket operating between Gujarat and Maharashtra,” the officer said, and added that efforts are on to recover the defrauded amount.

A police team visited the Karanja Port on the evening of October 31 to verify the allegations, said the officer, and added that more traders are expected to come forward with similar complaints. “This could be just the tip of the iceberg,” a senior officer said. “We suspect a systematic pattern of financial fraud in the fish export trade, where local traders bear heavy losses while the accused disappear across state lines.” Senior police inspector of Uran police, Hanif Mulani, told HT that an investigation is underway and nobody has been arrested so far.