There is no dearth of curious revelations in the recently busted sensational fraud of selling premium branded cars at 30% discount, be it the modus operandi or persons involved.
When the victims approached Hyderabad police a month ago, the investigators thought members of some rich families got lured by the offer and burnt their fingers.
As they dug deeper, they realised that not just wealthy families but even influential politicians from Hyderabad were among the clients of the prime accused Aakash Atmakur.
“None of them has any specific involvement in the fraud but they too jumped to grab the offer of 30% discount on new high-end cars like Audi, BMW or Merc,” an officer associated with the investigation said. One of them was a top leader of a prominent political party from Secunderabad Cantonment area.
“He paid over ₹20 lakh in cash to Aakash Atmakur's associates and got the car delivered,” the investigators said. Another was son of a noted leader of the same party from Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.
In fact, Aakash's failure to deliver the car ‘on time’ as per his assurance led to the busting of the fraud. The leader's son -known for faction tactics- threatened the kingpin of the fraud that he would “disappear from the world” if the vehicle was not delivered to him.
Received threats
“After receiving threats from this Rayalaseema politician’s son only Aakash fled to Thailand having already sunk into financial crisis,” the investigators said. As he disappeared and was not taking calls, the other worried clients approached the police.
A couple of public representatives, known to be close to the powers-that-be in the State- too purchased vehicles -each worth over ₹50 lakh- through Aakash.
“Aakash cleverly exploited these connections and impressed others saying even public representatives come to him for help,” the police officials said.
This image of Aakash having links with powerful politicians discouraged many of his victims from approaching the police.
Behind the bars
Interestingly, Aakash and his associates landed behind the bars eventually. His clients who got the cars are safe and those who paid advance for high-end cars have given up hopes of even getting back the money let alone the cars.
