City car bazaar under scanner

A Delhi police team from Hauz Khas police station,which is camping in Chandigarh,is hoping to make more recoveries of vehicles that were stolen from the capital and sold in the region. They are also looking for a person from Punjab,who is allegedly part of the racket.

According to the investigating officials,the gang has adopted a unique modus operandi. “They keep an eye on vehicles that have been fully damaged in accidents and then purchase them from the insurance companies. After purchasing,they would ensure that a similar model car was stolen from Delhi. The gang would install the registration and chassis number of fully damaged cars on the stolen cars,showing that they have got the damaged vehicles repaired. Later to further authenticate their act,they also used to get the clearance from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for selling this car. The NCRB never showed that the vehicle was stolen,since it was shown to be a genuine vehicle,which had got damaged in an accident,” disclosed one of the investigating officials.

Police sources said that the racket was unearthed after Delhi police arrested a dealer of the Chandigarh car market,Kuldeep Singh alias Lali,from Delhi,recently who exposed the racket. The President of the Car dealers association,Gulshan Kumar said,“We ensure that no dealer cheats customers. The market has credibility across the country. We came to know about the incident recently,when Delhi police approached us. Lali is not a registered dealer,but a sub-dealer,who sold these cars in the market. As it is the question of credibility of the market,the sub-dealers of the market have paid back the entire amount to those people who had purchased these cars,” Kumar said. “This is a one odd incident where even the insurance companies are equally to be blamed for providing the registration certificate of fully damaged vehicles,” he added.