The journey to and from Mumbai by road has never been an easy or relaxing one for Puneites. However, as if grappling with the ubiquitous traffic snarls, hazardous roads and irresponsible drivers was not harrowing enough, another traumatic angle seems to have been added to this overflowing cup of woes.This has come in the form of a sudden increase in the number of incidents involving motorists who have been duped of cash by an organised group of smooth operators on the highway.As Bharat and Shalini Kagal, alongwith their daughter, prepared for their return journey on a Sunday from Mumbai to Pune in December last year, it was in a relaxed frame of mind. Their car was purring along, the traffic seemed organised and they had ample time to make it home. Just as they approached the Navi Mumbai area, short of Panvel, a couple of men walking down the highway signalled to them, pointing to the bonnet of the car. Bharat shrugged it off as irrelevant and revved up the engine. Hardly had he covered half a kilometre that another man waved to them, even as he shouted out that there was a spark coming out from under the car's bonnet.``This time, I stopped the car,'' continues Bharat. ``The man who had given us the warning caught up with us and informed us that he was a driver. We opened the bonnet, and since he seemed quite knowledgeable about cars, I let him look at the machinery. "He even asked me to try and start the engine, which I did, but in vain. The man then informed me that there seemed to be something wrong with the distributor coil and that I needed a new one. He gave me directions to a workshop some distance away and began walking off. However, he returned after a few steps, and seeing my reluctance to leave my wife and daughter alone in the car, volunteered to get me a mechanic. I was most grateful.``He was back in about 10 minutes with another fellow called Abdullah. Both set to work. After 15 minutes, they pronounced the car ready. And charged us Rs 2,800. But suddenly, they said that they ought to take the car for a test drive. So, with all of us in it, the mechanic drove into a deserted area away from the highway. I suspected something then but dismissed it as a tactic on their part to instill fear in us in case we hesitated in paying them."However, I ignored the implications, paid the amount and drove off towards Pune, grateful that we had managed to get the car fixed on a Sunday, at an unknown place, and not got stranded on the highway''.Once back in Pune, Bharat and Shalini happened to mention the incident to some friends at a party. And were immediately surrounded by people who had a near identical experience at exactly the same spot at some point of time. ``It was amazing. If a person had not experienced the incident himself, he knew of someone who'd had been through it,'' exclaims Shalini. A visit to the garage further confirmed the suspicion that the Kagals had fallen victim to an old game of deception, that had apparently been going on since the past many years.Satish Kaushik, an investment advisor from Wanowrie, is one of the many who underwent a similar experience a couple of years ago. ``I had just approached Navi Mumbai when a man on the highway, gesticulating wildly, pointed to my bonnet,'' he begins. The rest of the story could well have been narrated by the Kagals, except that Kaushik had to part with a relatively lesser amount - Rs 1,200.``It's a racket, with the rogues replacing good and undamaged parts with those that they have probably taken off some earlier vehicles during their ongoing game of deception,'' adds Devika Munkur, whose brother and son were similarly duped on the highway six years ago.``They take care to stop only those cars that have a small family travelling, knowing well that the man would be hesitant to leave his wife and children on the roadside to search for a mechanic. This enables them to put their plan into action,'' emphasises Kalpana Chandravarkar, who works at C-Dac, and who, alongwith her late husband, had been similarly duped of cash on the highway some time ago.``But we were among the few who suspected that something was amiss. So when the men talked about the engine needing repairs and asked Rs 3,000 for it, my husband told them that he had only Rs 300 on him, despite possessing more. The man agreed to repair the car for Rs 300 and asked us for our address, saying he would come over and claim the rest later. We gave a false address and left. On reaching Pune, we took our car to the service station and discovered that the only thing defective was the `new' part that had been fixed by the men,'' grimaces Kalpana.``The men appear knowledgeable about cars, so you let them tinker beneath the bonnet. That is when they pull out a wire or do some damage to the car, so that it refuses to start. Also the manner is extremely gracious, so as to not raise suspicion,'' adds Kagal, still smarting from the deception.While no such case has been registered with the highway police recently, a similar racket had been brought to the notice of the Dehu Road Police Station about two years ago. Subsequently, they had also arrested the con men operating on the Karla-Dehu Road stretch in connection with eight such cases of deception.Whether the recent spurt of such duping is a revival of the same racket or courtesy a new group of rogues, needs to be ascertained. In the meantime, all those motoring to and from Mumbai need to steer clear of not just the usual traffic hazards but also these scoundrels on the prowl.
