THANE: Three fraudsters have been arrested have been taken into custody in connection with a fake car rental scheme.The three are said to have duped as many as 41 car owners by luring them into renting out their four-wheelers to a five-star hotel in Mumbai on the promise of Rs 1.5 lakh rentals per month.
A police officer said that the force got a tip-off a few days ago that the racket was operational in Mumbai and the Thane region. The accused—Anurag Tiwari (49), Rohit Gharat (29), Rajendra Yadav (35)—are involved in the racket. Tiwari is a resident of Mumbra, Gharat and Yadav are from Diva. Police said that the three would be on a look out for car owners and would impress upon them that they had got a contract from the five-star hotel for securing the rental vehicles to pick up patrons. “They would convince vehicle owners that they would get Rs 1.5 lakh per month for renting their cars,” said senior inspector Ravindra Doiphode. In a bid to convince the would-be victim, the three would prepare a fake agreement and give it to the car owner and also take a deposit of Rs 15,000. They would then park the cars in interiors areas of Diva, Mumbra bypass and Khardi. After a while when the car owner would try to contact the three to get the promised rent of Rs 1.5 lakh, their numbers would be be switched off.
After arresting the three, the police have recovered 41 cars that are worth Rs 5 crore. “We suspect that they were planning to sell these cars in bulk,” added Doiphode.
A case has been registered at Chitalsar Manpada police station under various Indian Penal Code sections of cheating, forgery.