Surat: A 32-year-old man robbery convict, who had jumped parole and remained absconding for over 18 months, was arrested by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) police after a three-night surveillance operation. The accused, Mehul Bhatti alias Mahesh Babar, was found working at a diamond unit in Surat.He was granted parole to file an appeal against his conviction in the Gujarat High Court but failed to report back to Lajpore jail, after which he went missing.DCB police said teams were earlier dispatched to Bhopal and Mumbai as Bhatti kept changing locations to evade arrest. Acting on human and technical intelligence, officers later traced him to a diamond unit in the Chowk Bazar area of the city.To avoid detection, Bhatti had opted for night shifts. DCB personnel posed as labourers and fast-food vendors and maintained a covert watch outside the unit for three consecutive nights.On Tuesday night, when Bhatti arrived at the unit with two associates, the DCB team cornered and arrested him at gunpoint. Police said he had attacked a mobile phone shop owner with a knife and robbed him of cash in the Varachha area in 2016. He was later convicted by a Surat court and sentenced to seven years in prison.30 Sent to Jail Under PASASurat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut invoked the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act against 30 habitual offenders, sending them to various jails across the state. Among those booked were cyber fraud accused Mohammad Imran Kumbhar, who was lodged in Ahmedabad jail, diamond fraud accused Pankaj Shah, who was sent to Bhuj jail, and POCSO and molestation accused Sahil Khan, Juber Baig, and Nilesh Naik, who were sent to jails in Ahmedabad and Bhuj. So far in 2025, the police commissioner has invoked PASA against 969 criminals.
