Sarabjit Singh who was deployed at the Kharar SDM office is nabbed by the police in Mohali, Punjab, in shocking unearthing of Multi-crore scam involving foreign of registration certificates and vehicle number for luxury cars.
The investigation started when Kamaljit Verma, 35 of Kharar tried to sell off a Hyundia Verna in Handera with a fake number plate. The car originated from Haridwar, Uttarakhand whose original plate number was replaced by the fabricated one. Making this the first in this scandal.
Further investigation in the case led to the arrest of Ronie Mitra, 30, a native of West Bengal residing in Kharar. Ronie Mitra assisted Kamaljit in forging of his Aadhaar card with a sole purpose to facilitate the resale of stolen cars. The trail then led to Sandeep, also known as Sunny, who had the access to the official email and online portal of the Kharar Vehicle registration department. Due to this breach, serious concerns about the government officials’ involvement evolved, raising serious questions about internal security measures.
The fourth arrest was of Rakesh Mittal, 57 who has prior history with Uttar Pradesh Police and had been booked before for purchasing stolen vehicles. Mittal allegedly bought stolen cars and motorcycles from local gangs of Meerut. He has further sold out these vehicles in Punjab after installing fake chassis numbers and with forged registration certificates.
“In-depth inquiry brought forth fraudulent registration of vehicles at Kharar. They would forge registrations of high-end luxury vehicles by fabricating the vehicle chassis number and upload the fake registration number on the central Parivahan portal,” said an investigator.
As per the reports, employees of Kharar vehicle registration department were further blackmailed and threatened by the accusers for money after providing fake registrations to ensure their cooperation and continued access to the system.
The investigation took a significant turn with the arrest of Sarabjit Singh. Police believe that Sarabjit played a crucial role in the scam, allowing the gang to upload fake vehicle details into the central Parivahan portal, the national vehicle registration database.
Modus Operandi of the scam involved targeting vehicles which were already declared as total loss, involved in bank loan defaults, reported stolen or banned due to non compliance BS IV engines. These vehicles were illegally brought back into circulation with the use of forged documents.
In some cases, the gang had also purchased luxury cars from different states and reported them stolen, encashing the insurance payouts while simultaneously selling the same cars with fabricated documents.
While 5 individuals have been arrested, police believe the investigation is far from over. Police suspect further involvement of other government officials, banks and the insurance companies as well. The full extent of the scam’s financial impact is still being determined, yet recovery of 7 luxury cars indicates significant loss to the legitimate car buyers, government’s, banks and insurance companies as well
This multi-crore scam has highlighted potential leaks in the vehicle registration system. As the investigation continues it is mandatory to implement robust security measures and surveillance of suspected parties involved in this scam to ensure the integrity of the system and to protect everyone.