Ahmedabad: The last time Mayank Sanghani made headlines, it was for murdering a teenage friend and sending ransom messages from the dead boy’s phone. He was just 19 when he was arrested and jailed. But, he jumped parole and resurfaced now, using his knowledge of the legal system to impersonate a public prosecutor. Now 27 years old, he scoured court websites to identify and lure families of undertrials by promising to secure bail. Sanghani took Rs 20,000 from a woman desperate to secure her husband’s release, and it was her growing suspicion that ended his game.
Sanghani, a resident of Kailash Plaza in Jamnagar, was arrested late on Thursday by Sola police’s surveillance squad. He had been absconding since July 2024, after being granted parole from Jamnagar Central Jail. He was serving a life sentence there for the 2016 murder of his 16-year-old friend, Karan Thadeshwar.
“Sanghani graduated in commerce while in jail. He used his education and computer skills to access Gujarat high court’s online court board to find information about pending bail applications. He contacted family members of undertrial prisoners, claiming to be the public prosecutor in their case and offered to ‘not oppose’ bail in exchange for money,” said police.
One of his targets was a 22-year-old woman from Chandlodia whose husband has been in jail for 18 months under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. On April 6, she received a call from a man claiming to be the prosecutor handling her husband’s bail plea. “Introducing himself as K K Pandya, Sanghani asked to meet at a cafe where he demanded Rs 20,000 via online transfer to settle the bail. She grew suspicious and confronted him the next day at the high court. When pressed, Sanghani admitted he was not a lawyer and fled the scene,” stated the FIR which she filed with the Sola police later.
Inspector K N Bhukan said, based on her complaint, police registered a case of impersonation and cheating and arrested Sanghani from his Jamnagar house on Thursday night.
During interrogation, he confessed to targeting multiple families using similar tactics. “He would scan online court boards, get details of bail cases, and then call families pretending to be the prosecutor,” said Inspector Bhukan of Sola police.
Police are now verifying his claims about other victims and examining call records for further leads.
Sanghani had earlier been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his friend for money in Jamnagar in 2016. Karan Thadeshwar, a Class 12 student, had gone missing on Aug 30, and his family received ransom texts in English demanding Rs 2 crore. The 16-year-old’s body was found the next day near a petrol pump with signs of injuries and strangulation. His father, Kishor Thadeshwar, told police that Karan had left home with his friend, Mayank Sanghani, but never returned. Kishor suspected Sanghani of being involved in the crime. Police investigation confirmed his suspicions, following which Sanghani was arrested. He told police that Karan and he had orchestrated the kidnapping but a dispute led to a fight in which he strangled the 16-year-old.
A trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment, but he jumped parole last July and had been on the run since, said Inspector Bhukan.