The Taloja police have arrested a conman who allegedly cheated at least 20 people by promising them rent on their four-wheelers and mortgaging the vehicles to a third party.

The accused, Manoj Kaluram Patil (42), would advertise on OLX, offering to pay people willing to rent him their cars. “For a smaller car, he would offer ₹25,000 per month and for bigger ones ₹35,000,” police sub-inspector Birappa Lature from Taloja police station said.

Mr. Patil used to prepare a rental agreement for the deal, but it was not registered or notarised. As per the police, he had been doing this since April 2018. “Initially, he paid the rent to a few people, but then stopped. When someone enquired about the rent, he would threaten them with his licensed pistol,” Mr. Lature said.

Realising they had been cheated, Rajkumar Munde (25) from Uran and 19 others registered a police case in February. Mr. Munde had rented four of his vehicles to Mr. Patil, while others had given one each. Mr Lature said, “We nabbed him on February 23 when he was returning home.”

The police found that Mr. Patil would mortgage the cars to different people. Of the 23 cars he had made away with, the police have recovered 20 from Thane and Mumbai. “He had given some cars to shops, claiming that he owned them and would soon give them a sale deed. He would demand an advance payment from the shops and leave the vehicle there,” Mr. Lature said.

Mr. Patil was in police custody till Saturday, and a court here has extended the custody till March 5.