Kotadiya nabbed in vajrasan pose

AHMEDABAD: At about 7.30am on September 9, Nalin Kotadiya, the ex-MLA of Dhari who was wanted in the multi-crore Bitcoin case, was performing vajrasan at his hideout on the first floor of an under-construction railway quarters at Amalner in Maharashtra. That’s when a team led by inspector Kiran Chaudhary of the Ahmedabad crime branch found him.
“When the team members introduced themselves, Kotadiya was shocked,” said a senior crime branch official.“Kotadiya told the team, “Aavi gaya. Kevi rite pahonchya ahinya (You have arrived. How did you trace me?) He never carried a cellphone while on the run.”
Kotadiya, who had been absconding for four months, was named as an accused in the case involving the kidnapping of a Surat businessman, Shailesh Bhatt, and the extortion of Bitcoins worth over Rs 12 crore.
The crime branch official said that a lead relating to Kotadiya emerged during the bandobast duty for PAAS leader Hardik Patel’s fast. Deputy commissioner of police, crime branch, Deepan Bhadran said that during the bandobast duty he met a man who casually said that he had met Kotadiya in Gadchiroli, a Naxalite-affected district of Maharashtra.
“On probing, we found that after he went underground, Kotadiya had stayed at the home of the in-laws of his driver, Altaf Solanki, in Gadchiroli,” The crime branch official said. “We then extended the probe and learnt that after two days, he hid in different places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before shifting to his Amalner hideout. The railway quarters was being built by a man belonging to Dhari.”
Crime branch sources said a team was dispatched to Amalner on September 8. Sub-inspector B N Sonvane, who knew Marathi, was part of the team.
“At dawn, the team cordoned off the area. Sonvane showed Kotadiya’s picture to people in the area and asked where the contractor’s man could be found,” the crime branch official said. The team was directed to the first floor of the building.
Safe in ST buses
Nalin Kotadiya always travelled by state transport buses and stayed at lodges which did not demand identity proof. “He used to eat at roadside dabhas and avoided big restaurants, ” said a senior crime branch official.