Mumbai: 2 Cars With Identical Number Plates Found Outside Taj Hotel; Owner Of One Car Arrested For Forgery

Mumbai: Chaos erupted near the Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba on Monday, January 6, when two cars bearing the same registration number were spotted. Upon investigation, the Colaba police discovered that the accused had forged the number plate to evade loan recovery agents. The police arrested Prasad Kadam (38), a resident of Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, in connection with the case.

A significant case of number plate forgery surfaced after a Colaba resident spotted a duplicate car using his registration number. The Colaba police have registered an FIR under Sections 318(2), 336(2), 336(3), 340(2), and 338 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, following the fraudulent use of a vehicle registration number.

How the Fraud Was Exposed

According to the police, Kadam previously worked as a driver before purchasing a Maruti Suzuki Ertiga on loan. His car’s original registration number was MH 01 EE 2383, but he had defaulted on loan payments of over ₹2 lakh for the past nine months. To evade recovery agents who often stopped him on the road, Kadam forged a number plate with the registration MH 01 EE 2388, which belonged to another Ertiga, and continued driving with it.

The owner of the genuine car, Sakir Ali, began receiving traffic challans for violations in areas he had never visited. Suspicious, he kept a lookout for a similar car and had spotted it previously but could not intercept it. On Monday, January 6, Ali saw the car near the Taj Mahal Hotel and alerted traffic police. The police stopped the vehicle and escorted both the car and Kadam to the Colaba police station.

Preliminary checks confirmed that Kadam had been using a fake number plate. Further inquiry revealed his intent to evade loan recovery agents. Kadam had approached a shop to procure the counterfeit number plate, which was then affixed to his vehicle.

The Colaba police have registered a case against Kadam and are considering charging the shopkeeper involved in making the fake number plate. An FIR has been lodged, and further investigation is ongoing to identify additional fraudulent activities, said a police officer.