A vehicle theft complaint was lodged with Maninagar police station in December 2014 by Abhishek Kadhiya, owner of the scooter. In 2015, the same vehicle was bought in an auction held by Vatva GIDC police.
In the case of a scooter stolen five years ago still generating traffic violation challans, the investigation has taken a new turn, after cops revealed that the chassis and engine number of the vehicle had been changed before being put up for auction.
A vehicle theft complaint was lodged with Maninagar police station in December 2014 by Abhishek Kadhiya, owner of the scooter. In 2015, the same vehicle was bought in an auction held by Vatva GIDC police.
Officials started to investigate how one police station auctioned off a vehicle about which a theft complaint had already been lodged with another police station. It was revealed that the vehicle was detained by Vatva Police after it was found unclaimed in 2015. During panchnama of the vehicle, the engine and chassis number of the vehicle was changed in the document. When cops tried to verify the vehicle with other police stations and RTOs, they were unable to get any information about the vehicle owner and it was listed as an unclaimed vehicle and put up for auction in bulk with 14 other unclaimed vehicles.
City police commissioner AK Singh said, "We suspect that one of the officers must have changed the engine and chassis number deliberately during the panchnama. As it was not just an error of one or two digits, the entire number was changed so that the vehicle couldn't be verified."
"The vehicle was stolen within Zone-6 jurisdiction and was recovered by a Zone-6 police station. Cops could have easily detected the theft case if they had followed due procedure," Singh added.
The police have started an investigation to find the culprit and suspect that many such vehicles have been auctioned off in the past. On Tuesday, a woman driving the scooter was detained and a team was sent to her home in Vatva. Her father said they had bought the scooter in 2015 at an auction held by Vatva GIDC police station.
CASE FILE
During panchnama of the vehicle, the engine and chassis number of the vehicle was changed in the document. As a result when cops tried to verify the vehicle details with RTO ans other police stations, they failed.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Abhishek Kadhiya")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}