A 26-year-old cab driver who illegally pledged rented cars to raise loans has been arrested by police in southern Bengaluru.
The suspect is Vedanth Gowda, a native of Hassan district and a resident of RR Nagar.
On June 18, Gowda contacted Dilip through a friend.
According to Dilip, Gowda came to his house on May 23, saying his friend's mother was admitted to the hospital and they needed Rs 7 lakh for her treatment. He handed him a Maruti Ertiga by giving him the RC, insurance and bank papers in return for the loan.
On June 16, Gowda pledged a Mahindra XUV 500 with Dilip for Rs 5 lakh, telling him the vehicle owner needed money.
When Dilip asked Gowda to bring the vehicle owner, Gowda claimed that the owner was hospitalised. Dilip made the payment to Gowda online and in cash. Dilip parked the XUV 500 in front of his house, but on the same day, someone took the vehicle away. Dilip then visited the owner's house and discovered that the owner had attached the vehicle with Zoomcar. The owner informed Dilip that he had neither pledged nor sold the vehicle to anyone or signed any documents.
The management at Zoomcar informed Dilip that Gowda had rented the vehicle and they had taken it from outside his house because it was not returned on time.
Dilip then verified with the Ertiga owner and discovered that Gowda had borrowed the vehicle from him to attend a wedding.
Police investigations revealed that Gowda used to rent vehicles from Zoomcar and from people he knew, and then pledged them by creating fake documents.
During questioning, Gowda admitted to spending most of the money on online gambling, two mobile phones, and house rent.
Tilaknagar police suspect that Gowda may have cheated many people and are urging the public to come forward and file complaints.
"We have recovered six vehicles worth around Rs 79 lakh. Further investigation is in progress," stated a police officer.
To prevent the car owners from filing a police complaint, Gowda would pay them rent ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 every two or three months, tricking them into not filing a police complaint.