Two Rajasthan-based men have been arrested in connection with an alleged Ahmedabad garba scam in which 640 counterfeit passes for 20 well-known events were sold for about Rs 8 lakh, according to a report citing the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch. Several attendees reportedly reached garba venues with invalid passes and were denied entry.
The accused have been identified as Veer Rajput and Kishan Rathod. Police began investigating after a complaint was filed about counterfeit garba passes being circulated and sold. The inquiry was handled by Police Inspector P.H. Makwana and his team.
According to the report, the suspects used an Instagram account named ‘Veer Rajput’ to contact prospective buyers. Technical analysis of the account led investigators to Rajasthan, where the two men were subsequently arrested. Police said the suspects had been preparing counterfeit passes for about a month using the logos of different Ahmedabad garba events.
The counterfeit documents were reportedly created with the help of artificial intelligence and designed to resemble genuine event passes. They also included QR codes. The suspects advertised the passes on Instagram and used Meta advertisements to target people in Ahmedabad. Buyers were attracted by offers priced at around half the market rate or even lower, after which the fake passes were sent by email.
The events named in the investigation include After 11:59, Mandapam Chowk Garba, Off Beat, Vanratri, Rang Moralo, Raatladi, AMS Ratri, Inner Circle, Pancham Na Garba, Anant Experience and Safed Parinde, among others. Police are also investigating whether the accused were involved in other cases.
The report said Rajput had previously worked with the Pink Butterfly garba event. During that period, an alleged fraud involving Rs 35,000 had come to light, although no complaint was filed after the money was returned, according to the police investigation cited in the report.
A separate complaint has been filed with Sarkhej police over allegedly unauthorised passes for the Sankalp Nagari garba event on Sindhu Bhavan Road. Organisers reportedly found that the venue had attracted more people than its capacity and suspected that additional passes had been printed without their knowledge.
Organisers changed the pass design and colour on October 16 after discovering the issue. During gate checks that night, some attendees were found carrying cancelled passes with an older design. On October 17, several people were reportedly stopped with passes that did not carry the special sticker later added by organisers. The passes were allegedly supplied by a man identified as Vipul Bhimani, prompting the organisers to file a police complaint against him.
The Cyber Crime Branch investigation into the alleged online sale of counterfeit passes is continuing, while the Sarkhej police complaint concerns the separate distribution of unauthorised passes at the Sankalp Nagari event.
