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Two take high-end cars on rent, cheat owners of ₹2.84 crore
The Panvel city police arrested two people for allegedly cheated 63 people on the pretext of taking their vehicles on rent.
The Panvel city police arrested two people for allegedly cheated 63 people on the pretext of taking their vehicles on rent.
The police seized 63 vehicles, mostly SUVs and other high-end cars, worth ₹2.84 crore.
The vehicles would be returned to their owners soon, police said.
According to the police, Shahrukh Baig, 25, a resident of Mominpada in Panvel and Satish Mhaskar, 31, a resident of Rasayani, had taken the vehicles on rent from their owners between December 2018 and March.
They had promised the owners that they would pay them ₹30,000 a month rent for each vehicle.
Ashok Dudhe, deputy commissioner of police (zone II), said, “After taking the vehicles on rent, the accused mortgaged them to a third party. They took around ₹2 lakh from them for every vehicle. They did not pay rent to the original owners.”
“When a few owners approached the accused asking for their vehicles back, the accused refused to return them,” Dudhe said.
“Last month, one of the owners spotted his vehicle on the road. He stopped it and asked the driver who he was working for,” said Sunil Tarmale, sub-inspector from Panvel city police station.
“The owner then realised that his car has been mortgaged. He, along with other owners registered a first information report. We arrested the first accused on Sunday,” Tarmale said.
Based on the details given by the first accused, the police arrested the second accused on Thursday.
“We seized 63 vehicles between Sunday and Saturday. The value of the vehicles collectively is ₹2.84 crore,” Tarmale said.
The police booked the accused under Sections 420, 406, 465, 468, 471 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were produced before the judicial court and have been remanded in police custody till August 13.
Tarmale said, “Baig has a criminal record. He was earlier arrested by police in a ₹25-lakh theft case. We have not found any criminal records of the other accused till now. Investigations are on.”
