Photo - UP Police, India - Ravindra Nath Soni (centre) in police custody

DUBAI, Dec 4: A simple food-delivery order placed on a quiet Saturday afternoon in Dehradun has spectacularly ended an 18-month international manhunt for Ravindra Nath Soni, the elusive owner of BlueChip Group and the central figure in one of the UAE’s largest investment fraud scandals.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law & Order, Kanpur Nagar) Anjali Vishwakarma told Khaleej Times on Wednesday that the breakthrough was as unexpected as it was decisive. Her team had been tracking digital footprints when a food order—placed from the very property where Soni was hiding—gave away his precise location. “He was caught because of a food-delivery order. I don’t even know what he ordered—we rushed in before the delivery boy could leave,” Vishwakarma said. “This is a big catch.”

The dramatic arrest took place on November 30 in Dehradun, the scenic capital of Uttarakhand, more than 700 kilometres from Kanpur, where Soni is now being held. India had earlier placed a reward of Rs 10,000 (Dh400) for information leading to his capture. On Wednesday, a court rejected his bail plea, with investigators insisting they need more time to interrogate him and trace the missing funds.

Soni, 44, fell into the police net after Delhi resident Abdul Kareem filed a fraud case in Kanpur on January 5. Kareem and his son Talha—who works in Dubai—claim to have invested Dh1.6 million after Soni promised to double their money within three years. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Talha revealed he had also invested additional sums in Dubai. “We trusted him because his Dubai operations looked legitimate. Now we’re following every development closely,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Kanpur) Satyajit Gupta confirmed that the investigation is rapidly expanding. “We are digging deep into the racket. Victims in the UAE and elsewhere must file complaints in the same jurisdiction where they handed over the money,” he urged. ADCP Vishwakarma echoed the call, emphasizing that Indians who paid Soni within India must lodge formal complaints immediately.