Fraudster held for rental car scam in Hyderabad, 26 vehicles recovered

They took cars from people on the pretext of lease and made initial payments to gain their trust. Later, they sold them to car dealers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at throw away rates

Hyderabad: The Jagadgirigutta police busted a rental car scam and arrested a fraudster on charges of cheating people here on Thursday. Officials recovered 26 cars, altogether worth Rs 2.5 crore.

The arrested suspect was identified as A Vishwa Phanindra from Jagadgirigutta and native of Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district of Andhra Pradesh. The absconding suspects are Ch Ramana, J Satyanarayana and Reddy Venkatesh. The gang is involved in a total of 32 cheating cases.

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Vishwa Phanindra worked briefly as a car driver in Qatar before returning to India in 2017. He started a tours and travels business along with the Ramana, Satyanarayana and Reddy Venkatesh.

“They took cars from people on the pretext of lease and made initial payments to gain their trust. Later, they sold them to car dealers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at throw away rates and made easy money. The money was used for personal luxuries and expenses,” said a senior official from Balanagar zone.

Vishwa Phanindra was running the business without any valid licence or permission from the authorities concerned. When victims demanded to return their vehicles or rental payments, he avoided them and eventually shut his business before fleeing.