Fraudsters replicate registration plate: Car parked at home takes a ‘toll’ on Ludhiana man’s pocket

Police booked unidentified persons for fraudulently making a number plate using the registration number of his car and misusing the FASTag issued against the vehicle’s registration number.

In an unusual case, a Machhiwara resident received two speeding challans from the Delhi Police and an amount of ₹125 was also deducted from his FASTag account despite his vehicle being parked at his house in Ludhiana throughout.

A Ludhiana resident received two speeding challans and an amount of ₹125 was also deducted for toll on his vehicle, which was parked at his house. (Sitockphoto)

After probing the complaint lodged by Manjinder Singh for almost two months, Ludhiana police on Tuesday booked unidentified persons for fraudulently making a number plate using the registration number of his Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire car and misusing the FASTag issued against the vehicle’s registration number.

Manjinder Singh of Jufalgarh village, in his complaint, alleged that while his car was at his home, ₹30 was deducted from his FASTag for crossing a toll near Delhi on April 29, followed by a ₹95 deduction for a toll charge in Haryana on May 16.

Elaborating, the complainant said, “After suspecting foul play, I didn’t recharge the fastag again. Later to my shock on May 29, when my car was parked at my place, I received a speeding challan issued by Delhi Police on my mobile number against my vehicle.”

“I received another challan on June 1 when my car was at Max Hospital in Chandigarh following which I approached the Cyber Cell here in June,” he added.

The complainant’s brother, Satwinder further, said, when cyber cell police opened a link of the challan issued by the Delhi Police; it had a photo of unidentified persons driving an identical Swift Dzire car that had the same number plate.

“We were astonished to see the same car with the registration number of our vehicle. The bonnet of the car in the challan was damaged while our’s was in a good condition and there were minute differences in the vehicle. We submitted coloured print outs of both the vehicles in the cyber cell here,” he added.

After probing the complaint for two months, the cyber cell forwarded the complaint to Machhiwara police station.

Assistant sub-inspector Tarsem Kumar, investigating officer, said a case was only registered after a detailed probe was done into the incident. The unidentified accused have been booked for forgery and cheating.