Thane, February 16 A total of 32 vehicles worth Rs 2.44 crore were seized, and one person has been arrested after a major vehicle rental and mortgage racket was busted by the Thane Crime Branch, a senior police official said on Monday.
The investigation into the case began after five vehicles were reported as stolen at the Wagle Estate police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Amarsingh Jadhav told reporters.
"Our investigation focused on Sandeep Raghu Shetty, a resident of Ulwe, who would promise vehicle owners high returns in a rental scheme. He would take possession of the vehicles to rent them out. However, he would fraudulently mortgage these vehicles and pocket the money obtained from them," the official said.
Shetty was apprehended by the Crime Branch on February 6, and his interrogation revealed that the racket was spread across Maharashtra, the DCP said.
"We seized 32 vehicles worth Rs 2.44 crore from Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Pune, Kalyan, Lonavala, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Parbhani. We believe that there are more vehicles that have been fraudulently mortgaged to third parties after being rented out from victims. A detailed investigation is underway," Jadhav informed.
