Major Vehicle Fraud Racket Busted in Bhopal, 30 Cars Worth Rs 3.5 Crore Recovered

Arera Hills Police in Bhopal uncovered a major vehicle fraud racket on Monday and recovered 30 cars, including luxury vehicles, worth more than Rs 3.5 crore. The vehicles were traced from Shyampur in Sehore district and surrounding rural areas. Police arrested the primary accused, Shailesh Joshi from Ayodhya Bypass, who allegedly rented vehicles from owners and agents, then fraudulently sold or mortgaged them using forged documents and fake agreements.

The scam surfaced after Gaurav Kushwaha from Vidisha filed a complaint. He had rented his car to Joshi for Rs 25,000 monthly, but the accused stopped payments and sold the vehicle to a third party after collecting an advance of Rs 75,000. The vehicle's GPS was disabled to prevent tracking. An FIR was registered under Section 316(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Police investigation revealed Joshi had perpetrated similar frauds involving around 35 vehicles. He would rent cars, create forged ownership documents, then sell them in remote rural areas at discounted prices. Many buyers were attracted by unusually low rates and failed to verify documents properly. Authorities are working to locate remaining vehicles and identify additional suspects.