A shocking case of multi-crore fraud, extortion, and abduction-like confinement has emerged in Mumbai’s Vile Parle East, where a businessman was allegedly duped of ₹3.25 crore and threatened at gunpoint. Police said the victim, Ayush Nakra, was first persuaded to invest ₹1 crore with promises of high returns, but when he demanded his money back, he and his company’s General Manager were allegedly assaulted, confined, and forced to transfer an additional ₹2.25 crore. A case has been registered at the Airport Police Station against 10 accused, and a manhunt has been launched to trace them.
According to the complaint, four brokers – Lakshminarayan Agarwal, Devkumar Roy, Sushilkumar Yadav, and Chetan Sanghvi – lured Nakra by claiming links with a major investment network and convinced him to invest in a firm called ‘Archship Group’. The funds were allegedly routed through NGOs such as ‘Manav Dharmayog’ and ‘Nai Jeevan Jyoti Foundation’, raising suspicions of a larger fraudulent racket. On August 28, 2025, one of the key accused, Umesh Kumar Suman alias Subodh Ranjan, along with nearly 15 associates, allegedly assaulted Nakra and his GM Pankaj Rawat, using kicks, punches, and a pistol to threaten them with death unless they complied. Fearing for their lives, the victims transferred the additional ₹2.25 crore, bringing the total extorted amount to ₹3.25 crore.
Police have named several accused, including Ramashish Kumar Gupta alias Kumar Sir, Umesh Kumar Suman alias Subodh Ranjan, and others, and are examining bank accounts, financial transactions, and operational links to determine whether the NGOs were being used as fronts for laundering funds. Investigators believe the conspiracy was executed between July 15 and August 28, 2025, and are probing the full extent of the network involved. Officials said the case highlights how fraudulent investment schemes are increasingly using charitable organizations as cover, and efforts are underway to track down the accused and prevent further exploitation.