A gang of conmen duped a motorist by pointing to an imaginary spark in the latter's car engine; the conmen staged an elaborate repair on the vehicle in a closed showroom before charging the man a Rs 14,000 'repair fee'
Sachin Pikle was driving from Borivli to Prabhadevi when at Lady Jamshedji signal (Mahim) a pedestrian crossing the road told Pikle that he had noticed sparks being emitted from the bonnet of the car. Pikle, who was taking a right from the signal, parked his car at the side and was taken to a building by the pedestrian.
The pedestrian claimed that the shop was a closed Hyundai showroom. He called a mechanic and took him to the parked car, on the pretext of getting it repaired.
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The mechanic asked the owner and his family to sit in the car, and pretended to repair the fault in the engine. He claimed that the fault had been rectified and asked them to speak to his boss about the charges to be paid.
They went to an ATM where Pikle spoke to the boss, who informed him that the bill was Rs 14,000. Pikle paid and left. He called up his service centre and enquired about the huge amount. The service centre informed him that he had been cheated. He later called a local mechanic to check the state of the car, and the latter confirmed he had been cheated.
Pikle went to Mahim police station to lodge an FIR and narrated the entire incident. Illustration: Amit Bandre
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