Three more textile firms have vanished from Surat, allegedly defrauding local businessmen of lakhs of rupees.

The firms that have joined the list of vanishing companies are Radha Prints, which was operating from T T Tower, Milan Sarees in Millennium Market and another firm in Ashoka Tower.

Traders lost about Rs 45 lakh (Rs 4.5 million) due to closure of Radha Prints, Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) due to Milan Sarees and Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) due to the third firm.

All the three firms are believed to be run by a single businessman, traders said.

The firms were in business for some months and were found to be closed since Tuesday morning, leaving hundreds of traders and weavers in the lurch.

The Federation of Surat Textile Traders' Associations has received complaints from around 100 traders and weavers who had supplied goods to the three firms.

The federation vice president Devkishan Manghani said, "As of now, the amount lost because of the three firms is Rs 1.25 crore (Rs 12.5 million). But we expect the figure to double in a day or two as many more traders are likely to approach us with complaints."

"We are doing all we can to curb instances of such firms going defunct after defaulting on payments. But the number of such firms is actually increasing. We will have to do some serious thinking and find ways to prevent these losses or we will have to close down our businesses," Manghani said.

He said, "We have organised a meeting at The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday to discuss the problem. Representatives of the federation, and the South Gujarat Weavers' Association will attend the meeting and try to find some way to curb such instances."

The weavers' association president Manu Patel said, "Whenever a textile firm, other than a trading firm, goes defunct, weavers suffer 70 to 90 per cent of the total losses. Weavers have lost over Rs 1 crore due to vanishing of these three firms."

"The police department, especially high-ranking officials, are responsible for this trend. Whenever we approach them with our complaints, they behave as if we are the culprits. At the same time, police seem to have given a free hand to the cheats, as no action is initiated against them. This attitude of police is killing Surat's textile industry," Patel said.

Up to 50 textile firms have gone defunct in Surat since Diwali.

Traders and weavers have lost close to Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) because of this.