Himachal anti-corruption bureau busts gang which duped people with vehicle loans

The Himachal Pradesh anti-corruption bureau has arrested three members of a gang which duped about 50 people by making them avail of vehicle loans on the promise of getting them attached in private tour company with fixed income and later escaped with the cars, officials said.

The case was referred to the bureau by the Chief Minister's Office after getting complaints from people duped by the gang, they said.

Immediately after registering the cases, teams under DSP Santosh Kumar were formed to establish the identity of the accused and apprehend them.

"In the past few days, three accused namely Sushil (43), Sukhvir (69) and Hardeep Brar (21) have been arrested from Kalka, Patiala and Mohali," Anurag Garg, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Vigilance told PTI.

People should be aware of such modus operandi as there is possibility of some other gangs operating, he said.

During investigation, it surfaced that real identity of Sukhvir was Vimal Kalra who had locked himself in his house in Patiala and installed CCTV cameras outside the house to evade arrest, he said.

Kalra is wanted by a number of agencies in cheating cases and is on bail in one such case. On bail, he assumed identity of Sukhvir to dodge the agencies, he said.

Real identity of one more accused Sushil has been established as Amit, he said.

The gang allegedly lured people in Solan and Shimla districts to avail bank loans for the purchase of vehicles on the promise that it will be put to hire with private companies known to them for regular monthly rental income, which would be more than sufficient to pay monthly bank instalments for the loan, he said.

It allegedly assured the gullible victims that they would have to pay initial margin money and couple of bank instalments till the vehicle is put to hire, he said.

These gang members took PAN and other details from the victims besides asked them to sign loan papers, blank cheques, and papers but escaped with the vehicles on the promise that it will be returned once paper work for hiring is completed.

"Neither the vehicle nor its papers came into the possession of the victims. On the other hand, after a few months they started receiving calls from the banks for paying the instalments. The victims first made complaints to the local police station but finding no relief they complained to the CM office and the matter was referred to the Bureau for necessary action," he said.