Mumbai: A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the owner of a Charkop-based automobile store- Ria Dealership- for allegedly cheating more than 20 people by selling them two-wheelers and issuing fake number plates without registering them with the RTOs.
The racket was unearthed three days ago by the Kandivali traffic police during a nakabandi at SV Road. Suresh Rokade, a senior police inspector with the Kandivali traffic chowkie, said that they caught a two-wheeler rider without a helmet during the nakabandi.
The rider, identified as Santosh Singh, claimed that he worked with a finance company and seized the TVS bike MH 47 BC 4689 from the owner Prajakta Kamble for non-payment of the monthly instalment. When the cops were issuing him an e-challan, the number was flagged off as duplicate by the machine.
Singh told the cops that he was just transporting the bike to the finance company, however, the police detained him and called up Kamble who informed the police that she had bought the bike from a dealership in Charkop, owned by Suresh Chavan.
The traffic police then approached the police station and registered a complaint against Chavan who is said to be absconding. Upon investigation, the police found out that after selling the bike to Kamble, Chavan had offered her to register her vehicle with the RTO and took the payment for the registration. Kamble accepted as it was hassle-free.
The police found out that Chavan had given Kamble a fake number plate without informing the RTO or going through any registration process. On further investigation, the police found out that Chavan had cheated more than 20 customers by giving them a fake number plate.
“We have registered a case against Chavan under sections 420, 465, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating, forgery, and using forged documents along with section 390 of the Motor Vehicles Act,” said a police officer.