MUMBAI, MARCH 3: A film producer who was low on money but high on his need to finance an impending movie release tapped an unusual source of income: car theft. Pawan Singh, a member of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA), was recently arrested by the Special Branch (Zone-II). With Singh's arrest, the police have busted a car stealing racket which has swindled at least 30 customers into buying stolen vehicles.Singh, who has been in the industry for five years and has produced two films - Fauj and Jeevan Sanghursh - was unable to cough up Rs 15 lakh to make his untitled film, reportedly starring Mithun Chakraborty. The producer, with the help of the other gang members, stole and sold eight luxury cars for roughly Rs 24 lakh.Singh's involvement in the racket was revealed when the other members of the gang were nabbed on January 14. The police intercepted a Maruti Zen car bearing number plate MH04 K 988 in central Mumbai on February 14 and nabbed four suspects. Duringinterrogation, the suspects revealed the names of their accomplices, who were arrested in subsequent raids. They have been identified as Mohim Amir Ali, Fukam Ramzan, Sandeep Kakad, Samir Sharma, Asphaq, Harminder Singh, Amjad Nayar, Dinesh Sampat, Nandkumar Sawant alias Nandu and Ajay Mahalani. The accused were produced before a Metropolitan Magistrate at Mazgoan Court, and most of them are now out on bail.While a senior police officer refused to reveal details of the case, stating that it would hamper investigations, sources said Singh's accomplices hailed from affluent families, and indulged in car theft to support lavish lifestyles. The gang would forge Income Tax papers to obtain loans from various banks. They would hire residential premises in posh localities in the city and obtain credit cards on these addresses.With the help of the forged IT documents, the gang members would approach car dealers for luxury cars like Zen, Tata Sumo, Tata Safari and Opel Astra. Among the gang members, Sawant wouldcomputer fabricate documents for RTO registrations. The vehicles were registered under false names and sold to buyers at around 70 per cent of the original price.Unsuspecting customers were told that the vehicle was being sold cheap because of a cash crunch among buyers or because the owner was emigrating overseas. False complaints related to theft of vehicle were also made to claim insurance from companies.The gang, which according to sources, was recently formed, has reportedly made around Rs two crore. Twelve vehicles have been recovered from the gang members, sources added. The police suspect that the accused are members of an inter-state gang operating from Mumbai.
