SHILLONG: A team of Meghalaya police recently went to Imphal, Manipur and recovered four vehicles.
SP Vivek Syiem informed that recently four cases were registered whereby Thiyam Anand Kumar Singh of Imphal, Manipur had taken 11 high-end vehicles which were taken out by the owners from showroom on Car Finance, on hire for the purpose of the recent elections at Manipur.
The vehicles were however not returned. An advance was also paid to the owners as security by Singh.
Syiem said that his modus operandi would be that once the vehicles leave the state, the engine/chassis numbers of the vehicles are tampered and re-registered to avoid detection.
In light of the FIRs received, state police recovered 4 vehicles – Maruti Swift Dzire Vxi (ML/5/TMP/2016/474), Toyota Innova (ML-05-M-6738,) Ford Eco Sport (ML-05-L-7907) and XUV 500 (MN-01-AK-1618).
However, Singh and others involved are absconding. Efforts are still on to nab the culprits and recover the rest of the vehicles.
Police has also advised to those giving vehicles on hire (especially those vehicles which are still under finance) to be cautious while giving out vehicles on hire to those outside the state as this has been a new modus operandi of car racketeers.
