Surat: A man posing as a car rental operator allegedly duped at least six vehicle owners by taking their cars on rent and subsequently mortgaging them with a private financier to raise loans totalling around Rs 13 lakh. The accused allegedly disappeared after obtaining the money and switched off his mobile phone.Dindoli police registered an FIR and launched a search for the accused, identified as Samir Shah. Police are also investigating whether more vehicle owners were similarly cheated.According to the complaint filed by Kuldeep Mehra (37), who owns a tailoring unit in Surat, he had purchased a compact SUV in Feb this year. Since he rarely used the vehicle while commuting to his unit, his friend Vinod suggested that he rent it out to earn additional income. Vinod subsequently introduced Mehra to Shah, who claimed to be in the rental car business.On July 15, Shah met Mehra and took the SUV for a test drive. Following negotiations, Shah offered to pay Mehra a monthly rent of Rs 16,000 and took possession of the vehicle after signing an agreement.A few days later, Mehra learnt that several other people, including Arun Mishra, Rahul Prasad, Bhupendra Chauhan, Ganesh Sonsukre, Dipak Singh and Sanjay Vishwakarma, had also handed over their cars to Shah on rental agreements.On July 27, Mehra and the other vehicle owners noticed that the GPS devices installed in their cars had stopped transmitting signals. When they tried contacting Shah, his phone was switched off. Mehra then visited Shah’s office but found that he had disappeared.The owners subsequently learnt that Shah had allegedly mortgaged their vehicles with a private financier and raised loans totalling around Rs 13 lakh.Dindoli police were examining the financial transactions and documents related to the mortgaged vehicles. Police were also checking whether other vehicle owners may have fallen victim to the alleged fraud.
