Four con car owners with promise of leasing vehicles to MNCs; 2 held

Two persons, who allegedly cheated several on the pretext of leasing their vehicles to multinational companies based in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, were arrested by the APMC police on Wednesday.

The police are on a lookout for their two associates.

According to the police, the group of four has allegedly cheated many people by making false promises. They used to take money from vehicle owners ranging anywhere between Rs10,000 and Rs50,000 by promising to help them in leasing their vehicles to big companies.

Months passed, but the accused failed to lease the vehicles. When the victims realised that they had been cheated, the registered a case with the police. The accused had also opened an office in Mafco market in Turbhe.

After several people registered complaints of cheating, the police laid a trap to bust the gang. On Wednesday evening, they managed to arrest two of the four accused.

“They were picked up from Vashi where they currently reside,” said investigating officer and assistant police inspector Ulhas Kadam from APMC police station.

According to Kadam, a similar case was also registered against them in Kalamboli police station. The accused have also cheated several people by promising to help them getting loans from banks.

The accused have been identified as Atul Kumar Chaturvedi, 34, and Shazia  Sayyed (name changed), 24. Both are natives of Farukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Their associates, Rohit Singh and Srinath Shetty, are absconding.

According to police, the accused are smart, and to evade arrest, they frequently changed their locations after committing the crime.

“They might have cheated many people in other areas. We are currently interrogating them,” said Kadam.

They have booked under sections 420, 406, 465, 467, 471, 504 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The arrested duo was produced before the magistrate on Thursday.

“This is not the first time they have committed this crime. A case has been registered against them in Kalamboli police station as well. We urged people who have been cheated in a similar way to come forward and register a complaint,” said senior police inspector DN Bhong.