HARLEY STOLEN
POSING AS BIZMAN, A MAN FLEES WITH HARLEY DAVIDSON BIKE ON PRETEXT OF TAKING IT FOR A TRIAL RUN
:GURUGRAM: Posing as a businessman from Agra, an unidentified man, allegedly stole a secondhand, limited edition 1200cc Harley Davidson motorcycle on the pretext of taking it for a trial run from outside a showroom in Sector 34, on Friday.
The police registered a case on Monday under Sections 379 (theft) and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused, who is now untraceable, got in touch with the motorcycle owner through an advertisement on a website and fixed a meeting for Friday. The accused allegedly handed some token amount finalising the deal, and rode away on the bike saying he was taking for a test ride, but did not return.
According to the complainant Ajay Singh (39), he had posted an advertisement to sell his bike—a Harley Davidson XR1200 X model, black colour—on a website on June 13.
“After I posted an ad, a person contacted me and introduced himself as Rahul Nagar. He started chatting with me on WhatsApp and asked me to send the details of the motorcycle, which was a limited edition,” Singh said.
On June 14, Singh received a message from the accused, who requested him to meet on June 15 at DLF Cyber Hub over coffee.
During the discussion, the accused introduced himself as an Agra resident and said he has an export business, police said. “He messaged me that he would meet me at 11.30am to discuss the details of the purchase and would like to see the motorcycle. We met, he examined the vehicle, and said he would revert after discussing with his mechanic and friends,” Singh said.
The accused messaged Singh, a Palam Vihar resident, at 3.40pm asking him to come to a Harley Davidson showroom-cum-workshop at 5.30pm to the get the bike inspected by technicians.
Singh said they met at the showroom around 5.50pm the same day and the accused enquired the staff about the condition of the motorcycle.
“The man was in his thirties, had good communication skills and was fluent in English. He gathered details from staff at the showroom like a knowledgeable biking enthusiast, and seemed very polished. We came out of the showroom and closed the deal for ₹7 lakh. He gave me ₹7,000 as token and asked if he could take it for a test ride,” Singh said, adding that he rode away around 6.15pm.
The actual cost of the bike was ₹12 lakh and was bought in 2010.
“After some time, I started calling him and his number kept ringing and then it went out of network and then it was switched off. I waited for long, and then realised that he may have stolen the bike. I called the police control room around 7.20pm and explained what had happened,” Singh said.
The victim received a call from the control room and they asked him to wait a little longer in the showroom. When the showroom was about to close, he went to the Sadar police station and lodged a complaint against the man.
“I waited for another hour and came back home. On June 16, I went to Sadar Police Station around 10am but due to Eid, they asked me to come later. Then I went to the Capital Harley Davidson Showroom and asked for their CCTV footage,” Singh said.
“The entire incident was captured on CCTV inside and outside the showroom. We trying to get footage from the coffee shop. The accused could be part of a gang,” DCP (crime) Sumit Kuhar said.