Hitesh Bhagat, son of slain matka king Suresh Bhagat and key accused in the murder, expressed no objection in letting ICICI bank take possession of his Rs 2.5 crore sports car.
Hitesh Bhagat, son of slain matka king Suresh Bhagat and key accused in the murder, expressed no objection in letting ICICI bank take possession of his Rs 2.5 crore sports car. But as the MCOCA court ordered in the bank's favour, Bhagat made one small request that he wants the balance from the car's sale after ICICI recovers its dues, Mumbai Mirror reported today.
In March 2007, Hitesh took loan of Rs 1.13 crore from ICICI Bank to buy the Italian-made Lamborghini Murciu00e9lago (LP 640, MH-01-KA-4545). Until his arrest on July 8, 2008, he had been paying monthly instalments of Rs 2.55 lakh. When he was jailed, however, the crime branch seized the car and his bank accounts were frozen.
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Since then, he hadn't paid any instalments, prompting ICICI to seek possession of the car or its sale from the MCOCA court.
In its plea, ICICI accused Hitesh of violating the loan agreement and told the court he owes them around Rs 1 crore. It said that the value of the expensive car was deteriorating since it was lying with the police and that it could also be damaged.
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Hitesh told the court that he is broke and cannot afford to repay the loan, and hence has no objection in the bank taking the car. The court then granted possession of the vehicle to the bank.
Sceptical about the bankruptcy claims, a senior crime branch officer said, "Hitesh knows he won't get the car back in good shape by the time this trial is over. Also, if he now agrees to pay the bank loan of Rs 1 crore to retain the car, there may be fresh enquiries on the source of such massive funds. So he must have figured that it was best to let it go."
It is now to be seen whether the bank is able to recover more than the loan amount from the sale of the car, and whether the excess will actually be given to Hitesh.
Case background
On June 13, 2008, Suresh Bhagat was killed in an orchestrated road accident on the Alibaug-Pen Road when a truck rammed into his vehicle, killing him and six others. Bhagat's ex-wife Jaya, son Hitesh and six others were arrested for their alleged role in the supari murder.
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How much Hitesh actually paid:
The crime branch has learnt that the actual cost of the car was Rs 1.37 crore, and that Hitesh had paid almost an equal amount as customs duty.
A Delhi dealer was paid almost Rs 6 lakh as commission for importing the car.
A further Rs 1.64 lakh was paid as shipping charges, around Rs 7 lakh as octroi duty, and nearly Rs 20 lakh as RTO tax for registration.
The insurance premium amounted to Rs 4.25 lakh. Another Rs 5 lakh accounted for accessories.
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