The Central Crime Branch police on Wednesday tracked down two men who had been arrested in a vehicle registration scam the previous day but escaped from custody. The accused, Santosh, 20, and his associate Sridhar, 29, were caught by residents of Cottonpet, while they were selling vehicle registration certificates and insurance documents to people.
Though the duo were handed over to the CCB, they managed to escape from custody. However, they left behind their motorcycle, which the police used to track them down. “We recovered hundreds of fake RC smart cards and fake insurance letters from them,” said the police.
Santosh worked as a tout in one of the RTOs and accessed the store room of the office to steal smart cards which were registered with the transport department. “The accused changed the details on the cards and sold them to clients for ₹3,000-4,000 each. They also forged insurance certificates for which they would charge anywhere between ₹500 and ₹600,” a senior police officer said.
Santosh allegedly told the police that he had sold as many as 135 RC cards and more than 500 fake insurance documents over the last few months. “People who bought stolen vehicles have benefited the most from this scam,” the police officer added.