5 More Arrested In Car Fraud Racket And Gang Confesses To Selling 40 Vehicles

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Arera Hills police on Monday arrested five more members of a vehicle fraud racket that allegedly cheated travel agencies and vehicle owners by illegally selling rented cars worth crores of rupees.

With the latest arrests, six accused have been taken into custody and 20 cars worth nearly Rs 3 crore have been recovered.

Additional Commissioner of Police Shailendra Singh Chauhan said one accused is still absconding. During interrogation, the gang confessed to selling 40 vehicles, of which 20 have been recovered so far.

The case came to light after a complaint was lodged on June 13 by Gaurav Kushwaha, a resident of Vidisha. He alleged that his car had been rented by Shailesh Joshi, who later sold it without his consent.

Based on the complaint, Arera Hills police registered a case under Section 316(2) of BNS and launched an investigation. Shailesh Joshi was arrested from the Ayodhya Bypass area.

During questioning, he revealed the involvement of several accomplices in the fraud, who were also arrested. The accused have been identified as Shailesh Joshi, Waheed Ali, Jayendra Joshi alias Kittu, Arun Nath, Raja Meena, and Rohan Khan.

Following their confession, police recovered 20 vehicles from Sehore and other locations.

Police are searching for absconding accused Vishwajeet Gaur and others, while efforts continue to recover the remaining vehicles.

Police said the accused targeted travel operators and vehicle owners by assuring them that their cars would be used on rent.

After taking possession of the vehicles, they falsely projected themselves as owners and sold the cars or mortgaged them through forged sale agreements. Some vehicles were reportedly sold without any documentation.