Cops put the brakes on car theft gang

The Navi Mumbai police on Monday busted a gang of car thieves who would pose as people from a travel agency and hire vehicles from owners, before selling the cars off. The police has arrested four people in this connection and recovered 35 cars till date.

The case came to light when a vehicle owner approached the police, saying a travel agency that was refusing to pay him monthly rental charges had cheated him. According to the police, the accused had approached several car owners telling them that they operate a travel agency that provides cars to companies that offer pick-and-drop services to their employees.

A police officer said: “The gang used to approach businessmen or people who wanted to get into the travel business and tell them that they would get Rs 35-Rs 45,000 per month if they obtained a tourist permit for their vehicle. Once they would get a new vehicle, they would enter into a fake agreement with the owner of the vehicle to win his trust. They would then make a fake RC book, insurance policy and other documents for the vehicle, selling the same car later to another customer for a big sum.” He added: “Meanwhile, they would stop all contact with the main owner and vanish from the scene without paying the monthly rent due for the vehicle.”

Senior police inspector of Kamothe police station Ashok Naik said: “The fraud came to light when Bijendra Chandolia, a resident of Sector 20 in Turbhe, gave his new Innova car on rent to the gang when they assured him of Rs 45,000 per month as rent. But within two months, the gang leader Vicky Gaikwad started complaining about a dip in business, adding that he couldn’t pay the monthly rent. Later, Gaikwad vanished from the place that he had shown as his office. After a month, Chandolia spotted an Innova car with the same colour and number plate as his. He then approached that car driver, who said that the vehicle had been sold to him.\"

Chandolia approached the police after that, which led to the arrest of the four people accused in the case and the recovery of 35 stolen cars.