Man dupes car buyer of Rs 1.5 lakh, arrested

The Kasturba Marg police arrested a 21-year-old man from Kolhapur on Friday for allegedly cheating the son of an employee of the Tata Power House by promising him to get him a car at half its market value.

Police said in August last year, a 21-year-old man identified as Murli Venugopal Naidu had lodged a complaint that he was cheated of Rs 1.5 lakh by a car dealer who had promised to sell him a Hyundai i20 car for Rs 3 lakh.

Naidu stated he had met the accused, identified as Umesh Dinkar Bennurkar, a resident of Kohlad in Belgaum, through a friend.

Naidu alleged that when he told Bennurkar that he wanted to buy a car, the latter told him that he could get him a car worth

Rs 6 lakh for just Rs 3 lakh. He, however, allegedly told Naidu that he would have to keep it a secret as he did not want others to approach him for a similar deal.

On August 18 last year, Bennurkar allegedly took Naidu to a showroom and booked an i20 car for Rs 25,000. Later, he allegedly made Naidu sign an agreement telling him that he worked for the showroom and could deliver the car to him for a lesser amount.

“Umesh subsequently fled.

... contd.