PUNE: If you are driving down the Pune-Mumbai expressway and a man or youth astride a two-wheeler offers help by saying that your car is spewing smoke, beware. The ‘Samaritan’ may be a cheat disguised as a mechanic. According to the victims, a gang of such cheats looking for unsuspecting people is on the prowl on the expressway.
Car drivers have been duped to the tune of anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 4,000. Speaking to TOI, Dattakumar Sawant, a senior citizen, said he was travelling with his wife towards Pune on Friday and a biker took Rs 1,400 from him on the pretext of changing a ‘faulty’ part that was “spewing smoke”. Explaining the modus operandi, Sawant said that he was driving his car towards Pune and was about to touch the e-way when a pillion rider on a bike started waving frantically towards him and made him stop. “The two men told me that there was smoke emanating from my car and offered help, saying they were into transport business and were aware of car problems.
They asked me to start the engine while they opened the bonnet and checked. Then they asked me to check the engine while one of them started it from the driver’s seat. To my surprise, a fire broke out from the alternator,” the victim said. Sawant said he was caught unawares as one of the men told him that he would get a mechanic. “However, he returned in less than five minutes, saying it was easy to change the part and charged me Rs 1,400.” On reaching Pune, Sawant discovered that he had been taken for a ride. He has appealed to other citizens to be alert. Another citizen, Sadanand Sharangpani, had a similar experience when he was travelling alone in his car and was duped to the tune of Rs 2,300. He pointed out that the culprits indulged in sweet talk while checking the car to divert his attention and said that a big mishap had been averted.
SOURCE: timesofIndia
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