Thane Crime: Interstate 'tourist vehicle' racket busted

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A man has been arrested for allegedly taking cars from people to deploy them in the tourist circuit and then selling them in other states with forged documents, Thane police said Sunday.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Wagle Estate division, P R Nilewad said Sunday that accused Ashfaque Noor Ahmed Siddiqui has several such cases against his name. He was in the custody of Dahisar police in Mumbai when Thane police, while investigating one such complaint by a local resident, zeroed in on Siddiqui, he said.

His interrogation revealed that the modus operandi is to take cars from people for deployment as tourist vehicles after promising them good returns.

He said that Siddiqui and his associates would stop contact with the victim once the car and its papers were handed over.

They would then forge documents, change registration numbers as well as the colour of the vehicles and sell them in states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Siddiqui has allegedly stolen vehicles in this manner from Mumbra in Thane and Mulund in neighbouring Mumbai, the official said.

Four vehicles worth Rs 22.72 lakh have been recovered and further probe into the interstate gang was underway, he added.