Patna, June 2: His is a story of rags to riches. Once a small-time worker in a diamond factory, Bhupat Ahir, a resident of Amreli district in Gujarat, is now the owner of a series of factories, including a diamond factory, in and around Surat.

A team of Bhojpur police, led by deputy superintendent of police Dharmendra Kumar, arrested Ahir, 45, from the Mufassil police station area yesterday. He was wanted in Gujarat in connection with loot of jewels worth Rs 1.2 crore from a diamond merchant after firing at him and two others at Nirmal Nagar under Bhavnagar police station in Gujarat on April 26 this year.

Four policemen died in an accident while chasing Ahir after the dacoity. Ahir’s 16-year-old son was also killed in the mishap.

The gang leader reached Bihar and took shelter in the house of his accomplice, Krishna Mohan Ojha, at Chaurasta village under Bihia police station in Bhojpur.

Bhojpur superintendent of police (SP) M.R. Naik told The Telegraph that he received information from his counterparts in Gujarat that Ahir, the leader of a gang involved in loot and theft of diamonds, was in Bhojpur for the past few weeks.

The Bhojpur SP said Ahir had so far been involved in the loot and theft of diamonds worth over Rs 12 crore in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. He shifted to Bhojpur to evade arrest. He had developed good relations with Ojha in Amreli Jail when the latter was lodged there in an assault case. “I had helped Ojha obtain bail in the case,” the SP quoted Ahir as saying.

Before settling down in Bhojpur, Ahir had visited Calcutta on May 14. He stayed at Hotel Arya on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Calcutta for a few days, spent lavishly there and then came back to Ojha’s native place in Bhojpur, Naik said.

“We have informed the Gujarat police about Ahir’s arrest. A Gujarat police team is likely to visit Bhojpur to take him on remand,” Naik said.

Ahir’s crime history dates back to 1977-78 when he used to work in a diamond factory. He was first arrested for committing a theft in a betel shop. He spent one-and-a-half months in prison. When he came out, he got a job in a diamond factory as a daily wager. The first of the two siblings of Naran Ahir, also a daily wager, Ahir learnt the tricks of diamond business. He organised set up a gang that would target only the diamond merchants.