Vehicle buyer claims the man, his employee and a car owner did not transfer the car documents to his name and when he pressured them to do so, a false police complaint was lodged claiming he had stolen it
Praful Kalgutkar allegedly paid Rs 7.40 lakh for the Eco Sport, Ford car. Representation pic
On the direction of the Borivli Metropolitan Magistrate Court, the Borivli police on Thursday registered a fraud case against a vehicle showroom owner, his employee and a car owner. They had sold an Eco Ford to a 34-year-old man, but allegedly did not transfer the car documents to his name for months, and when he started pressuring the showroom owner for them, the car owner allegedly lodged a false complaint at the Kurar police station claiming the buyer had stolen the car.
The complainant, Praful Kalgutkar from Thane, in the year 2018, saw an Eco Ford car on OLX for sale. He went to the car showroom (Perfect Motors) in Borivli West, and met the owner Suryapratap Singh. He claimed he paid R7.40 lakh to Singh via net banking and it was decided he would pay the balance amount (R25,000) once the papers of the car were transferred to his name.
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What happened
Speaking to mid-day, Kalgutkar said, "Suryapratap Singh showed me all the documents of the car including the RC book. He said there was no loan on the car, and that its documents would be transferred in my name. I signed the purchase agreement paper and took the car. A couple of months later I called Singh and asked about the documents. He said the car owner Furkan Shaikh was in Dubai and once he was back, he would transfer the documents." After a few months, Kalgutkar claimed he also spoke to Furkan who told him once he came from Dubai, he would transfer the car to his name.
"On August 21, 2020 I got a call on WhatsApp from the Kurar police. The officer told me that the car was stolen and the owner Furkan had lodged a complaint against me. I was to take the car to the police station immediately," said Kalgutkar. He claimed he took the car to the police station, but was told all personnel were busy with Ganpati festival security.
"On August 23 Furkan called me and told me that the car was loaned by Axis Bank, so I should hand it to the bank in Kalina, and he would return the money I paid Singh. On August 26, he again called and said that if I do not give the car back, he will file a police complaint accusing me of car theft," claimed Kalgutkar.
Court's instructions
"I submitted a written complaint to the Kurar police and the Borivli police. I demanded a case of cheating be filed against Singh and Furkan, but both the police stations did not take the matter seriously. I was forced to report to the court which instructed the Borivli police to register a case of cheating against these people," said Kalgutkar.
"On the court's order we have registered the case against Suryapratap Singh, Furkan Shaikh and Shabaz Shaikh (a show room employee) under sections 120B, 34, 415 and 420 of IPC yesterday. No arrest has been made. We are investigating," said an officer from Borivli police station.
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