Ludhiana: Four fraudsters duped a second-hand car dealer of Rs 8 lakh on the pretext of selling him old cars of Embassy of Russia. To win the trust of Sukhwinder Singh, 45, the accused took him to the embassy and showed him three cars.
Sahnewal police have registered a case against the four: Avinash Bhatti of Isa Nagri, Ankush Kumar Malik of Dugri, Abhishek of Ajit Singh Nagar and Rinku Bawa, also of Ludhiana.
Sukhwinder, of Bajra village, said, “Ankush is a broker in second-hand car business. He had earlier helped me sell two cars. In 2019, Ankush told me about the three cars of Embassy of Russia. He said those were in good condition and available for sale.”
Sukhwinder told Ankush that he would check the cars before finalizing the deal. “Ankush took me to the embassy in Delhi, where Rinku, Avinash and Abhishek were present. I knew Rinku, as he too is a second-hand car dealer. After seeing the three cars, I gave Rs 50,000 to the accused to fix the deal,” he added.
It was decided that Sukhwinder will have to make full payment of another Rs 7.50 lakh before the delivery of the cars. “After a few days, I arranged the money and handed it over to Ankush. But I did not get the cars,” he said.
On July 21, 2020, Sukhwinder lodged a complaint against the accused. An inquiry was marked to an ACP-ranked official.
Sub-inspector Pooran Singh said, “A case has been registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. Sukhwinder had made the payment in cash. He fell into the trap as he was taken to the embassy, where the accused acted as if they had sold a car to a man present there. Besides, the cars parked outside the embassy had no link with the embassy officials. The accused will be arrested soon.”