3 nabbed for cheating 22 with vehicle rental trick in Pune

PUNE: The crime branch of the city police on Sunday night arrested three men, including a criminal on record, from Daund on the charge of cheating 22 people of more than Rs 2.5 crore in a fake car rental scheme between March 15 and July 27.
Police said they received reliable information and tracked down the three men.
“We have arrested the criminal, Rafiuddin ‘Malik’ Gilani (35), his accomplice Omkar Wasane (25), both from Ganganagar in Phursungi, and car dealer Mujeeb Shaikh (32),” senior inspector Ganesh Mane from crime branch (Unit VI) said.
He said they managed to recover two of the 28 cars the suspects took “on rent” from the victims. A magisterial court has sent the suspects to police custody till Friday.
Mane, explaining the modus operandi of the suspects , said, “Gilani assumes various names stays on rent in Pune and other cities. As per our initial probe, Gilani and Wasane convinced people that a Noida-based firm wanted a large fleet of cars on rent. They took the cars from the victims and disposed of the vehicles at various places in Maharashtra. Further, they struck a deal with Shaikh (the car dealer) to sell the vehicles.”
“Police teams have fanned out to recover the vehicles that were sold in Latur, Hyderabad in Telangana, and other places for a quick buck. We hope to recover them soon,” Mane further .
The fraud came to light after Gilani and Wasane failed to pay rent and disappeared with the 28 vehicles. One of the victims, Avinash Kadam (28) from Phursungi, registered an FIR with the Loni Kalbhor police on August 13.