The Pazhavanthangal police have busted a racket by a gang who would rent cars from owners on a monthly basis and then, after a few months, would pledge or sell off the vehicles. To gain the confidence of owners, the gang would pay the rent for a few months, and later would either pledge or sell the vehicles without the knowledge of the owners.
Police arrested a main suspect who was identified as T. Sabareesan, 43, of Chinna Thirupathi, Salem district. Eight cars worth ₹25 lakh worth were seized from him.
Police said P. Dharmarajan, 35 of Ambattur, on seeing an advertisement, rented out his car on a monthly basis to a firm called ‘Car Rental Zone’, Nanganallur. Though he received payments for a few months, later, there was an inordinate delay in the payment. When he questioned this, the persons who were responsible refused to return the car. Hence he lodged a complaint with the police seeking to recover his car from them. On his complaint, police registered a case and found a few more persons were cheated by the gang in a similar fashion.
The accused, who were identified as Irfan, his son Mohammed Fasil and their associate Sabareesan went absconding after police booked a case and launched a manhunt. After searching for a long time, a special team of police personnel arrested Sabareesan. The gang had availed of cars from 16 persons on a rental basis and later pledged or sold off the vehicles without the knowledge of the car owners, said police.
