Man sells his car, only to steal it using duplicate keys

Noida: A 28-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly selling his used car on an e-commerce site and then stealing the vehicle using its duplicate key from the buyer.

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The suspect, Manottam Tyagi who is a native of Amroha, had also fixed a GPS device in the vehicle to trace its movement, the police said, adding that Tyagi had cheated at least seven people using the same modus operandi in the past two years.

Prabhat Dixit, station house officer, Sector 24 police station, said that on March 3 this year, a person named Jite Yadav had filed a complaint of vehicle theft. Yadav said he wanted to buy a used car and he found an advertisement on a website.

“I contacted the seller and fixed a deal for Maruti Swift VXI for Rs 2.60 lakh. The suspect reached Mamura in Sector 66 and handed over the car. However, he withheld the vehicle’s original registration papers and one key,” Yadav had said in the FIR.

According to the police, the suspect had told the victim that the original papers and the second key would be delivered later. Dixit said that Yadav paid Rs 2.10 lakh and said Rs 50,000 will be paid once the papers and key are delivered. Next day, Yadav had parked the car outside his office in Sector 12 when it was stolen.

The SHO said that police received information about movement of the suspect near Greater Noida West. “A police team reached the spot and signalled the suspect to stop for checking. The police found that his vehicle had a doctored number plate. The suspect was arrested when he confessed to have stolen the vehicle,” he said.

During interrogation, the suspect revealed that he had fixed a GPS device in the vehicle. “I had traced the vehicle using GPS and then stole it after selling to Yadav,” Tyagi told the police.

The police have recovered the stolen car, two mobile phones, three fake Aadhar cards, three PAN cards and Rs 10,720 in cash from his possession. The suspect was produced in court and sent to judicial custody.