Three held for stealing car under pretext of test ride

Surat: Police held three persons on Wednesday for allegedly stealing a car worth Rs 10 lakh under the pretext of taking a test ride.
Khatodara police have nabbed Nikunj Bathwar (30), Darshan Chawda (21), and Bhautik Bodhani (23) for allegedly stealing the car of Sourav More, a resident of Vesu. The accused were nabbed from Varachha when they were searching for a buyer for the stolen car. Police have recovered the stolen car as well. The accused will be arrested after their Covid-19 tests results arrive.
More wanted to sell his used car, a Tata Nixon for which he put up an advertisement on a website. Chawda contacted More and requested for a test ride. Bathwar and Bodhani met More near E-Space mall on August 1 for the test ride. Bathwar sat on the driver’s seat while More sat next to him and Bodhani got into the back seat.
When they reached near Bhagwan Mahavir College, Bathwar asked More to come on the driver’s seat. As soon as More got down, Bathwar drove off with the car.
Since the car’s keys were with its owner the vehicle turned off automatically when they reached Puna area, police said. When the car stopped in the middle of the road, the accused called a crane service to pull the car on side of the road. Later the accused removed both registration plates and went to search for buyers in Varachha, when police nabbed them.
“The accused are jobless and wanted to make quick money. It seemed this was their first attempt at car theft,” police said.