Man flees with rented vehicle
Man booked for stealing a vehicle hired from an app-based rental service; police launch manhunt for his two accomplices. Two similar cases registered against suspects in other locations.
MUMBAI: A man has been booked for allegedly fleeing with a vehicle hired from an app-based rental service. The police have also launched a manhunt for his two accomplices.
According to the Park Site police, the complainant, Chaitanya Raut, 28, a resident of Ghatkopar west, claimed that he listed his car on the rental app in May last year.
Between May 2022 and June 2023, his car was hired for several occasions and Raut received rent from the company after 24 hours of the customer returning the vehicle, a police officer said.
In his statement to the police, Raut also claimed that he gets messages when a customer books the vehicle and also the location of the vehicle as it has GPS.
The complainant said that the suspect booked the vehicle for five days from July 18 to July 22 and was supposed to return the car by 1am on July 22.
Raut received a message that his vehicle had arrived in the parking area in Kailash Business Park at Powai Road in Vikhroli west. “When he reached the spot, he did not find his car and therefore he called the person, who had identified himself as Chembur resident Vishal Bhosale, who had rented it and the man on the other end told him that he would reach in an hour,” a police officer said.
However, after an hour, Bhosale’s number was found switched off and the GPS was removed from the vehicle and Raut stopped getting the vehicle’s location on his mobile phone, the officer added.
“Raut then informed the company. He along with the firm’s recovery team visited Bhosale’s Chembur residence, but the suspect was unavailable. The victim then gave a written application to the Park Site police station and after verification the case was registered under the charges of 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code against Bhosale,” Vinayak Raut, senior inspector, said.
During investigation, the police found that two cases of car theft using similar modus operandi have been registered against the other two suspects in Tilak Nagar and western suburbs. The police found that the two suspects are in the Northeast.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.