Nagpur: In a major breakthrough, Indore Police have arrested wanted land mafia Ahmed Jiwani, a ₹50,000 rewardee, for his involvement in multi-crore fraud cases. The accused had been on the run, evading arrest in Nagpur, Hyderabad, Nashik, Delhi, Mumbai and Sharjah, before being caught.
Jiwani has allegedly orchestrated massive land scams in Nagpur, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Indore (Madhya Pradesh). Despite an FIR being lodged at Nagpur’s Sitabuldi Police Station, officials there reportedly had no information about his whereabouts.
Fraud of ₹8.65 lakh in Nagpur
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Saturday08 Feb. 2025
According to a report, Ahmed Jiwani, Managing Director of Maharashtra Phoenix Info, along with his firm Phoenix Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., deceived a Senior Army Officer in Nagpur. Jiwani negotiated the sale of a plot in the city and signed an agreement with the officer, intending to register the land in his wife’s name. The officer then paid ₹8.65 lakh to Phoenix Infrastructure’s office at Ramdaspeth, Nagpur. However, the company failed to fulfil its agreement and refused to return the money.
Following this, the Army officer lodged a complaint against Jiwani, Phoenix Infrastructure Chairman, and other directors– Chandrashekhar, Vijay Manikrao Gautam, Jitendra Nasine, and Dilip Gadpayale.
Multi-crore scam in Indore
In Indore, Jiwani and his associates lured buyers into investing in residential projects in Betma Khurd, Mohana, and Shamli under ‘Natural Valley’ housing scheme. They collected crores in deposits by showing land plots but never completed registrations, leaving investors defrauded. Multiple FIRs were lodged across various police stations in Madhya Pradesh.
To evade arrest, he had travelled to several places, including Sharjah, Dubai, Hyderabad, Nashik, Delhi and Mumbai. Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotiya said that the accused, Ahmed Zivani of Nagpur, had established a construction company, Phoenix Infra, in Vijay Nagar area of Indore in 2005. He promised to develop residential colonies and sell plots to people and collected Rs 7 lakh each from at least 14 people in Vijay Nagar alone.
It is estimated that he duped people of over Rs 2 crore in Vijay Nagar. Later, he shut down his company in 2014 and fled, and a case of land fraud was registered against him at the Vijay Nagar police station. Ahmed had similar cases registered against him in Nagpur, Betma, Kishanganj, Bhopal, Nashik, Raipur and Mumbai.
He had been absconding for a long period, frequently changing locations to evade the police. The accused is currently being interrogated to gather information about his other previous criminal activities. Police believe that the number of fraud victims might increase.
After years on the run, Jiwani was declared a wanted criminal, prompting police to announce a ₹50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
