In a significant breakthrough, the Jabalpur Police Crime Branch has apprehended a notorious conman after a relentless chase spanning nearly 15 years. The accused, Amit Khampariya (40), was arrested from the Wathoda area in Nagpur late on Thursday, bringing an end to his long run from the law.
The Long Trail of Deception and Fraud
Amit Khampariya is a wanted figure in a staggering 17 criminal cases registered across four districts. His alleged offences range from cheating and illegal mining to forgery. However, the most audacious crime linked to his name is the 2021 Mandla proxy-prisoner scam, which sent shockwaves through the local judicial system.
This intricate scam was unearthed during a probe ordered by the Superintendent of Police. Investigations revealed that Khampariya orchestrated a scheme where he presented another man, Komal Pandey, before the court to serve a sentence in place of his own father. Khampariya's father had been convicted in a toll-tax fraud case but never actually entered jail.
How the Proxy Prisoner Scam Unfolded
According to the probe, Komal Pandey was allegedly forced to sign documents, impersonate the convicted father, and was subsequently sent to Mandla jail under the father's identity. Pandey endured 84 days in prison before securing bail and filing a formal complaint, which triggered a deeper inquiry.
The investigation, led by CSP Priyanka Shukla, uncovered a wider pattern. It was found that two other individuals, Shyam Sundar and Virat Tiwari, had also served jail time as proxies for real accused persons. Shockingly, the probe revealed that the proxy prisoners had met Khampariya's advocate multiple times and made dozens of calls to their families from inside the jail, while the actual convicts remained free.
Based on these findings, the Mandla police added Khampariya's father to the official list of accused in the case.
The Final Capture in Nagpur
Khampariya, who had allegedly spent years deceiving courts, scamming businessmen, and even tricking fellow accused, had successfully evaded arrest for close to a decade and a half. The Jabalpur Police's Crime Branch, through sustained surveillance on his suspected hideouts, finally tracked him down to Nagpur.
A dedicated team moved in and arrested him from Wathoda. Following his arrest, he was produced before a local court in Nagpur, which subsequently sent him to judicial remand. His capture marks the closing chapter of a long and manipulative criminal career that exploited loopholes in the system with brazen cunning.
