Mumbai Crime: Two arrested for stealing cars using app

The team arrested two persons named Dinesh Kumar Goyat (25) and Suresh Pandit (28).

Pant Nagar cops have arrested two persons for allegedly stealing cars from an app-based car renting service. According to the police, both accused took KYC documents from drivers assuring them of jobs, and would create fake profiles with the help of the documents.

The accused would then book cars, drive them to Rajasthan, and would sell them by removing the GPS system. As per the cops, multiple complaints have been registered against the accused in the police stations in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Gujrat.

A 39-year-old resident of Pant Nagar, Sandeep Shelar had registered his Hyundai Creta car on an app-based car renting service. He also got the rent in two rentals from August 28 to September 13, 2022. On September 13, around 7.30 pm Shelar received a message that a person named Madan Pal has booked the car at 8.30 pm and will return on the 14th morning which was later updated till night.

"As per the booking, the person claiming to be Madan Pal met me and my brother to know a few technical details of the car. My brother helped him with the issues he faced and later on, he took the car," Shelar mentioned in his statement to the police.

Also read: Man held for contacting women through matrimonial sites, cheating them

"But my car wasn't returned by the driver till September 14th night. I became anxious and contacted the company. They mentioned that the driver will return the car by the 15th morning," he added.

Further, as the app official, the car got 'missing' at 750 km away from Mumbai. Shelar immediately rushed to Pant Nagar police station and registered an FIR against two persons who had taken his car. An offense was registered against person named Madan Pal and another one under IPC section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention).

Ravidutt Sawant, Senior Inspector of Pant Nagar police station had asked Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Patil to investigate the matter.

"We started with the technical analysis of the email address, and contact number provided by the accused. Which was found to be of genuine persons who had submitted their documents to seek the job opportunities of the driver. The technical analysis of mobile phones and reaching out to cops from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan helped us to reach out to the suspects," told a cop from Pant Nagar police station.

Based on the information, after the cops received a tip-off that the suspects are in Ajmer, a team was dispatched to nab the suspects.

The team arrested two persons named Dinesh Kumar Goyat (25) and Suresh Pandit (28), both belong to Jalore, Rajasthan. The team is still searching for one more suspect in the case.

During interrogation, the modus operandi of the accused was revealed. "The accused had Aadhar cards and driving licenses of drivers who are in need of jobs. They would create email Ids and profiles with the help of the documents. After taking the car for rent they would drive it to Rajasthan and remove the GPS stop tracking system from the vehicle and later sell off the car in Rajasthan" told API Sachin Patil.

There are seven such complaints in various police stations in Mumbai, Gujrat, and Delhi. And the process to book them is ongoing.