Dubious movers and packers exec flee with Chembur resident’s car and ₹30K cash

A man in Mumbai was cheated by fraudulent packers and movers who stole his car and cash. The police have booked four persons for cheating and launched a manhunt to arrest them.

Mumbai: A 38-year-old Chembur resident was cheated by fraudulent packers and movers who fled with his Hyundai-I 20 worth ₹4.80 lakh and ₹30,942 cash which he paid for shipping the car to Uttarakhand. The police have booked four persons for cheating and breach of trust and launched a manhunt to arrest them.

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According to Tilak Nagar police officials, the complainant Subhash Bhatt, 38, who lives with his wife in Chembur and works in Bandra-Kurla-Complex (BKC) as a food and safety manager, wanted to ship his car to his parents in Uttarakhand. He searched the web in order to get quotations from movers’ and packers’ websites and stumbled upon a portal named Moving Solution. After filling in his details, Bhatt received a WhatsApp message from the number 9643054235 to finalise the deal and submit documents like the vehicle’s RC book, insurance and his Aadhar card and pick up and drop addresses. The movers and packers executive said that the person will pick up the car on October 13 and deliver it in five days to the address in Uttarakhand.

On October 12, Bhatt received a phone call from a person who introduced himself as Usman, who said his vehicle would be picked up by his colleague named Shahid. Shahid reached around 7:30pm and picked up Bhat’s car saying that he would deliver his car to his parent’s place within five days in Uttarakhand.

Bhatt said he first paid ₹12,500 to the firm. However, on October 17, a person called Ramesh called Bhatt saying that he was required to pay ₹21,442 more, otherwise, his car will be parked in Noida and the parking charges would increase till he would not clear the amount, said the investigating police officer.

The victim thought the phone call could be a fraud and hence he ignored it. On October 20, he again received a call from Ramesh from another number who asked for the amount. After negotiating, Bhatt paid him ₹18,442 online.

The person promised that his car would arrive the next day at his place before 11am but it did not reach its destination. When the victim tried to contact the movers and packers and the executives, all their mobile phones were powered off and not reachable. Bhatt then approached Tilak Nagar police station and registered a case against the executive and others under the charge of cheating and breach of trust, added officer. The booked accused is an executive of transport and logistics firm, driver Shahid, Ramesh and Usman.