After nearly eight years on the run, Nisha Agrawal, a prime accused in the Rs50 crore Arbuda Credit Cooperative Society scam, was arrested by Kapadwanj police from the Naranpura area of Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The scam, unearthed in 2017, is one of Gujarat’s biggest Ponzi schemes, with hundreds of depositors across the state defrauded.
Nisha, along with her husband Rakesh Agrawal and co-accused Asha (Rakesh’s other wife), allegedly ran Arbuda Society, promising abnormally high returns to investors. The society later defaulted on payments, triggering over a dozen fraud cases.
Police inspector Janaksinh Devda revealed that Nisha was involved in at least 21 criminal offences, had been declared absconding in six, and had managed to evade authorities by fleeing abroad and frequently changing identities and locations.
The breakthrough came when police discovered Nisha was regularly in touch with a woman in Naranpura who worked as a domestic help. Officers approached the woman under the pretense of hiring a maid and used a fictitious reference from “Nisha aunty” to gain her trust. They eventually tracked down Nisha’s flat, and she opened the door herself when the team arrived.
A 13-member police unit, using a mix of human intelligence and technical surveillance, coordinated her arrest. Nisha is originally from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and had operated Arbuda Society branches across Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Gujarat government had handed over 12 cases to the CID (Crime) in 2017, with six being probed by the Economic Offences Wing. The society reportedly had over 50 branches and collected deposits exceeding ₹50 crore before collapsing. Rakesh Agrawal was arrested the same year after surrendering in Mount Abu, attributing the firm’s downfall to financial strain caused by demonetisation.
