CUTTACK: Badambadi police busted an inter-state gang of stolen vehicle traders and arrested its mastermind on Wednesday. Police also recovered four cars from the main accused G Sanjeev Kumar Swami (38) of Chandbali in Bhadrak.Cuttack DCP Akhiesvar Singh said, the arrest comes following action taken on a complaint filed by one Sunil Kumar Jena on March 25. Jena had filed an FIR alleging that Sanjeev and his associate Sudhansu Mansingh alias Babaji had signed an agreement with him in December 2018 and took his Innova car on rent for `38,000 per month. They failed to pay the rent and avoided his phone calls.
Later, when Jena learnt that the accused had sold his car and absconded from the area, he filed a complaint with police. Police launched a hunt for Sanjeev and nabbed him, Singh added.Informing about the modus operandi of the gang, Singh said Sanjeev runs a medicine distribution unit near Badambadi and his associate Babaji is a driver by profession.
They post advertisement on social media and contact vehicle owners to engage their vehicle on rent thereby executing an agreement to pay `30,000 to `38,000 per month. Once they get the vehicle, they sell it to others on the pretext of being original owners.During the last four months, they have cheated the owner of five vehicles and sold those within the State as well other States like Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Basing on the confessional statement of Sanjeev, police have seized three Innova cars and a Honda City stolen from Cuttack’s Odia Bazar, Sikharpur, Mahamadia Bazar and Nayagarh. Babaji is absconding with another Honda City car stolen from Niali locality, the DCP informed.