Indore: Zoom Car Scam Unfolds; Rented Cars Mortgaged

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Police arrested two people, including the prime accused, who used to cheat people by taking cars on rent through the Zoom app and mortgage them, police said on Thursday. The police team has recovered 10 cars so far and the accused are being questioned further.

Additional DCP (zone-2) Amrendra Singh said that Pawan Saxena, a resident of Nanda Nagar area of the city who rented his car through the Zoom app, had lodged a complaint at the Pardesipura police station that on June 6, he received a booking on the app in the name of Mohammad Muinuddin, a resident of Bhisti Mohalla.

He said Muinuddin and another person took the car from his place. After the booking period of the car was over, he received a request to extend the booking for one more day, which he accepted.  But, on June 15, when the car was not returned and the GPS tracking was also turned off, he doubted the person who had booked the car. When he called, the person at the other end introduced himself as Mohammad Hanif and assured that the car would be returned in two days.

Pawan told the police that after this, he himself went to Muinuddin's address and talked to him. Muinuddin said that Hanif had booked the car with his ID and now he had mortgaged it. On complaining, the accused allegedly threatened that the car would be broken into pieces.

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On the instructions of senior officials, a team led by Pardesipura police station in charge RD Kanwa investigated matter and found that Mohammad Hanif, a resident of Bhisti Mohalla, Mohammad Muinuddin and their friend Shailendra of Narsinghgarh together used to rent cars through the Zoom app. They then mortgaged or sold them in rural areas of Rajgarh by claiming to be second owners.

 These accused had allegedly taken about Rs 2.5 lakh from a dhaba owner by mortgaging the complainant’s car. Police registered a case under sections 318(4), 316(2) and 3(5) of the BNS and started an investigation.

Vehicles recovered so far

Police have recovered 10 vehicles from Rajgarh, Biaora and other places on the information provided by the accused. Along with this, information about other vehicles is also being gathered, which will be conveyed to the police stations concerned.

The investigation is on to find out the role of other people in the crime. Pardeshipura police station in charge Kanwa informed the Free Press that Shailendra was on the run. He used to contact people from villages to take cars on mortgage. A search is on for him.