Police returns 71 cars to owners after busting racket

Mumbai: Nearly two weeks after the Thane Police arrested three persons who duped more than 70 people by promising them that their four wheelers would be rent out to five-star hotels, the police on Saturday returned 71 cars to the owners. The Thane police filed a written application in the court, requesting it to hand over the cars to the owners, considering that the owners’ income depended on it.

In April, the police had arrested three people whose modus operandi was to contact people who own four-wheelers and tell them that their cars will be rented out to five-star hotels. The accused promised to give victims a monthly rent of about Rs 1.50 lakh and asked for a deposit of Rs 20,000.  Once they had possession of the car, they would park it in isolated parts on the outskirts of the city, and divide the deposit money among themselves.

The accused have been identified as Anurag Ravindranath Tiwari (40), a graduate and a resident of Mumbra, Rohit Vishnu Gharat (29) and Rajendra Ramsurat Yadav (35), residents of Diva area in Thane. While initially, the police had seized 41 cars, after further investigation the police recovered a total of 71 cars. The cars belonged to residents in Navi Mumbai, Thane and certain areas of Mumbai.

At a press conference, Param Bir Singh, Thane police commissioner, said,  “After the court approved our request, we handed over the cars to the respective owners. Once we had the court order, we made a list of the registered owners and verified it with the RTO and then handed over the cars to them.”