Car sale fraud: Suspect on the run for three years held

The suspect, identified as Hardeep Singh Randhawa, was held on January 4 from Bhopalpur village near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, where he had been hiding in forests for months, police said.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday said they had arrested one of the main suspects in a vehicle loan fraud case that had earlier led to the wrongful arrest of a retired Army officer and his father in 2024.

Police said further investigation was underway (Representative photo)

The suspect, identified as Hardeep Singh Randhawa, was held on January 4 from Bhopalpur village near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, where he had been hiding in forests for months, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said: “Retired Army officer Subhash Chander had filed a complaint in January 2025 that he and his father had been wrongfully arrested in 2024 over a vehicle loan fraud case, while the actual suspects were still on the run. Chander had started a business of buying and selling cars after his retirement.”

According to Chander’s complaint, he met Randhawa in May 2023 in connection with the sale of an Innova Crysta. Randhawa lied to the complainant that the car was owned by his cousin, Satender Pal Singh, and the duo sold the car to Chander for ₹14.5 lakh. They told Chander that they had to fly to Canada and needed to get the no-objection certificate (NOC) finalised at the earliest.

A senior police officer said: “The same month, Chander found Baljeet, who wanted to buy the car from him. Baljeet’s documents were sent to Randhawa, who then gave them the NOC for ₹55,000. Later, Baljeet discovered that the vehicle was registered to a man named Aslam, who still owed the bank the full loan amount. Chander tried to contact Randhawa and his cousin but they had fled. Baljeet reported the matter to the Punjab Police, and Chander was arrested from his Dwarka office along with his father.”

DCP Singh said that in 2025, a probe was launched and it was found that Chander had been wrongfully arrested by the Punjab Police for over 70 days. “It was also discovered that the actual vehicle owner, Aslam, had already registered a separate FIR in Bareilly in 2023, in which Randhawa had been declared absconding,” added the DCP.

According to police, Randhawa had been wanted by Uttar Pradesh Police for the past three years, and was involved in four criminal cases, including attempted murder and offences under the Arms Act. He is also allegedly linked to a local strongman and has a history of involvement in land-grabbing incidents. Police said Randhawa used multiple hideouts across Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to evade arrest.

Police said they were finally able to arrest Randhawa near the reserve on January 4, adding that his cousin remains at large.

Randhwara told police that he and his associate conspired to sell vehicles by forging NOCs and falsely showing loan clearance on the regional transport office (RTO) portal. He also alleged working in connivance with the RTO staff, police said, adding that the allegations were being verified.