Buying a car? Navi Mumbai cops give tips on how to keep crooks at bay

NAVI MUMBAI: After the crime branch busted an inter-state gang of high-tech car thieves, the Navi Mumbai police has sent out an advisory for car manufacturers, pre-owned car buyers, financial institutions, insurance companies and e-commerce firms, suggesting steps to be taken to prevent car theft .
Sunil Shinde, senior inspector of crime branch unit-1, who busted the gang, said, “As the car thieves use an electronic gadget to scan and decode the ignition key, car manufacturers should ensure that an OTP is generated when the key is decoded, alerting the owner.”
Car thieves take chassis and engine numbers of vehicles that are damaged in accidents and sold to scrap dealers by insurance companies, and print those on stolen vehicles. Insurance companies should inform the RTO of scrapped vehicles, so their registration can be cancelled. Financial companies that provide loans for pre-owned vehicles should personally verify the chassis and engine numbers, as should insurance companies.
Shinde said, “Those buying pre-owned vehicles should verify the vehicle colour, model, manufacturing year on the Vahan web portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Buyers should meet the vehicle owner and verify original documents and insurance. Engine control module and engine control unit should be checked to ensure that engine and chassis numbers are not manipulated.”