<![CDATA[Mumbai: In the case related to the sale of defective vehicles two Regional Transport Inspectors in Beed were arrested by the Thane Crime Branch. The matter came to light last month. The racket in the sale of defective vehicles according to Crime Branch officials, was busted with the arrest of two accused, identified as Sachin Sonawane and Sayyed Shakir Ahmed, on August 29. The police said that Mr. Sonawane bought defective vehicles which were being sold as scrap. He then took Mr. Ahmed’s help to get them registered with the RTO and sold them to unsuspecting clients. The 34 vehicles with defects were recovered by the Narpoli police which the accused had allegedly sold to various clients. The Bhiwandi unit of the Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested Rajendra Nikam and Nilesh Bhagure, who are posted as inspectors at Beed RTO, based on Mr. Sonawane and Mr. Ahmed’s interrogation. Police said that Mr. Nikam and Mr. Bhagure were responsible for issuing necessary clearances for the vehicles that Mr. Sonawane wanted to sell. Mr. Ahmed acted as a middleman in the racket. An officer with the Bhiwandi Crime Branch said that as vehicles sold in scrap do not come with any documents, selling them requires several documents such as a manufacturer’s certificate and dealer’s certificate. Mr. Sonawane knew that he would need all these documents before he could sell the vehicles. He sought Mr. Ahmed’s help who, in turn involved Mr. Nikam and Mr. Bhagure. According to the documents examined by the police so far, Mr. Nikam and Mr. Bhagure have registered 428 personal vehicles like sedans and SUVs and 53 passenger vehicles like buses, vans and minibuses from all over the State. Of the 34 vehicles recovered by the police, 24 are personal vehicles and 10 are passenger vehicles. The police said that the value of the recovered vehicles is over Rs.2.32 crore. The accused, through the racket, have caused losses amounting to Rs.31.77 lakh to the national exchequer as no sales tax or any other tax was paid when the vehicles were sold. The value of the loss is expected to rise as more vehicles are recovered.]]>
