Renter zooms off with Mahim resident’s SUV

Javed Iqbal Chaudhary and his Mahindra Thar

For the past 15 days, an interior decorator has been attempting to file an FIR after a resident of Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly made off with his sports utility vehicle, which the latter had rented. The Sahu Nagar police are currently investigating the matter.

Javed Iqbal Chaudhary, 28, a Mahim East resident, purchased a Mahindra Thar in January 2022.

Documents uploaded by Afajal Ali

"Due to financial difficulties, I later decided to sell the car and uploaded photos of it on a car-selling website. I received a call from the reputed car-rental platform," Chaudhary said.

He added, "I met with the company representatives in Andheri and signed an agreement on May 30. Accordingly, I would receive 40 per cent of the total profit once my car was rented out to a customer. I was thrilled at the opportunity. The company also installed a GPS tracking system."

Afajal Ali

On June 12, one Afajal Ali booked the car for a period of two days, made the payment and provided his driving license and passport details via the platform's application. Ali paid a fee of R20,938 to the company prior to renting the car.

"On June 14, the rental period ended, but Ali failed to return the car. The company attempted to contact him, but he did not respond to its employees' calls. Then, on June 15, at 3.30 am, he removed the GPS tracking system and the car went missing. I sent multiple emails and approached the company to recover my car, but I was informed that the car was missing and the GPS system had been removed. Surprisingly, they did not report the stolen car to the police, even though they share responsibility for this incident," Chaudhary said.

He added, "I then approached the Sahu Nagar police to file an FIR against the company, but they refused to do so. The police told me that the firm should approach them since I had handed over the car to it, and it would be responsible for any compensation. I even requested the registration of a theft case, but they declined to register any complaint. I have reached out to the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner of police of the division, but I am yet to receive any assistance."

Senior Inspector Jitendra Kamble of the Sahu Nagar police station said, "Chaudhary has approached us to book against the company that rented out the car. However, we cannot do this since he had an agreement with it. We will file an FIR against the customer who stole the car after renting it."

June 14
Day rental period ended