Bhubaneswar: Mancheswar Police have busted an alleged family-run vehicle fraud racket in Bhubaneswar with the arrest of two brothers accused of procuring vehicles on rental or contractual agreements and selling them elsewhere without paying the EMIs, police said on Sunday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Manoj Mohapatra and Ashok Kumar Mohapatra, sons of Niranjan Mohapatra, who is also an accused in the case, police said.
According to police, the family allegedly acquired vehicles from different individuals under rental or contractual agreements and subsequently sold them elsewhere without fulfilling their financial obligations, causing losses to the vehicle owners.
The case came to light after Biswaranjan Patra, a representative of a private organisation, handed over a truck to the accused under a contractual agreement in July this year. However, the accused allegedly failed to pay the EMIs, leaving the complainant to bear the financial burden.
During the investigation, police found that the family was allegedly operating an organised racket involving the procurement and subsequent sale of vehicles obtained through such agreements.
The gang reportedly has a network spanning several districts, including Ganjam, Kandhamala, Sundaragada, Boudh and Bhadrak. Its members allegedly change locations frequently to evade arrest, police said.
The arrested brothers were produced before a court, and police sought 15 days of remand for further investigation.
Further investigation is underway to identify and apprehend other persons allegedly involved in the racket, police said.
