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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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Police bring to light massive rent a car racket Crime Sunday by Jayampathi Jayasinghe One of the biggest vehicle thefts ever reported in Sri Lanka was busted following the recovery of 61 stolen vehicles from different parts of the country. The Fort Police station was a hive of activity last week with several persons calling there to make inquiries about the stolen vehicles, vehicles which belonged to several persons including a DIG, an Inspector of Police, Army officers, Naval officers, businessmen, a Lawyer, and several executives. They have been sold to people in outstations by the woman proprietor by resorting to fraudulent means. However it all flared up when a newly married Young Executive from Divlapitiya visited the head of the Colombo Intelligence Unit, Senior Supdt. of Police Anada Lewwangama's office to complain about his new Nassan car, WP-JK 8837 which had been leased out to a woman running a Rent-a-Car Service in Nawala. The woman had promised to pay him Rs. 40,000 every month but had defaulted consecutively for two months. When the young man called over at the Rent-a-Car service to inquire about the payment the woman had told him that the car was stolen. When the executive's wife phoned up the Rent-a-Car Service, the woman proprietor had abused her. Later the wife had told the husband to forget both about the car and money. The case was entrusted to Inspector Lakshman Silva from the Fort Intelligence Unit for investigation. Inspector Silva along with another woman police constable who posed as his wife visited the Nawala Rent-a-Car Centre. The couple having met the woman proprietor told that they wish to lease out their vehicle and had inquired about payment. The woman had told them that she was willing to pay a sum of Rs. 40,000 every month. Inspector Silva and his team officers thereafter started investigating several cases of stolen vehicles. Recently a government pensioner too had complained that he lost two vehicles by leasing them to the Rent-a-car Car Service at Nawala. Meanwhile painstaking detective work by Inspector Lakshman Silva and his team of officers yielded results. The team worked relentlessly round the clock to trace the woman master-mind who ran a Ren-a-Car Service at Nawala. Within a short period the police were able to trace more than 60 out of the 116 vehicles stolen. The woman suspect in her mid thirties was the big boss of a Rent-a-car Service and a travel company in Nawala. According to police the company had been doing business for more than 13 years. Her modus operandi was to advertise in the newspapers about her Rent-a-Car Service business. She had the knack of luring customers by offering them an attractive rate of return for leasing their vehicles. People from outstations often leased their vehicles because the rates offered by the Renter Car company was attractive. She often promised customers Rs. 40,000 every month for leasing vehicles. Customers were told that the vehicles would be taken good care of so as to win their confidence. According to Inspector Lakshman Silva, the woman had sold most vehicles leased to her company to people in outstations by preparing fake documents. "There was a tremendous demand for F-15 Dolphin Vans by the Rent-a-Car company," he said. Meanwhile people residing in the following areas have complained to the Fort police that their vehicles have been stolen. The areas are Ja-ela, Mahara, Gonawala, Kandy, Dehiwela, Wellampitiya, Nugegoda, Dankotuwa, Galle, Ragama. Beruwela, Wattala, Polgasovita, Gampaha, Anuradhapura. Ratnapura, Malabe, Badulla, Piliyandala, Nugegoda, Pittakotte, Kadana, Maharagama, Wellampitiya, Panadura, Batteramulla, Kelaniya, Wattegedera, Katugastota, Matale, Colombo 7, Mulleriyawa, Nainamadama and Moragalla. According to Police several persons who had leased their vehicles to the Rent-a-Car company at Nawala had lodged complaints at the Welikade Police station and at the Colombo Fraud Bureau about their vehicles. In most cases the vehicles have been lost. Whenever a customer went to inquire about their vehicle the woman proprietor had abused them in obscene language. She also had 15 ferocious dogs to scare customers, police said. Further investigations are directed by DIG Colombo Pujitha Jayasundera, SSP, Ananda Levangama and ASP Champika Siriwardena of the Fort Police station. |
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