Cheat inspired by conman Natwarlal held, used trade sites to dupe people

Dabas convinced Tyagi against selling his car by telling them that it could be rented out at rates as high as ₹1 lakh per month...Dabas was arrested from a hotel in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj on June 26.

26-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly duping people through a popular e-commerce portal on the pretext of renting their cars for various embassies and then ‘selling’ the vehicles to potential customers using forged documents, police said on Thursday.

Police said the arrested cheat, Ajay Dabas, was inspired by infamous conman Natwarlal. He had a penchant for stealing luxury cars and SUVs. He was wanted in cheating cases in Mumbai, Haryana and Delhi, and had non-bailable warrants issued against him in connection with a cheating case registered in Gurgaon in 2012.

One Toyota Fortuner SUV was recovered from Dabas. His arrest came following investigation into a cheating case filed by one Vijender Kumar Tyagi.

On June 9, Tyagi filed a police complaint and alleged that a man stole his car after contacting him through an online marketplace. Tyagi had posted an advertisement on the e-commerce portal to sell his Toyota Fortuner and was contacted by Dabas, who proposed to him that he can rent out his car to an embassy which would give him good returns, a police officer said.

“Dabas convinced Tyagi against selling his car by telling them that it could be rented out at rates as high as ₹1 lakh per month,” said the officer. After Tyagi changed his mind, Dabas asked him to leave his car with him so that he could get it serviced. After tricking Tyagi into giving him his vehicle, Dabas went incommunicado. He later sold Tyagi’s car to one Taiyab by posing as the owner of the vehicle and took Rs 2 lakh from him, but did not hand over the vehicle. Dabas used to change his mobile phone and SIM cards frequently to evade arrest.

“However, on the basis of a tip- off, Dabas was arrested from a hotel in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj on June 26,” the officer said adding Tyagi’s car has also been recovered.

The interrogation of Dabas revealed that he is quite techsavvy and had dreams of earning huge amount of money in a short span of time and surpassing Natwarlal as a conman.

He told police that he along with his friend Akshay used to dupe people through the e-commerce portal by alluring them under the pretext of renting their expensive cars in embassies, the officer said.