Cleaner stole car - retrieved now!

[sbasak]

Today a nasty incidents happpend to my car.

I was out of town for few days. Today morning my dad was supposed to receive me at the station. We live in a very congested place in North Calcutta. We don't have garage in our own house. So, had to rent a shared garage at nearby place. When my dad was about to leave our house and walked towards the garage, he received a phone call from local police station. He was informed by the OC that our car [an Alto VX] has been stolen but police nabbed the culprit and the car is now in police custody.

Startled, he rushed to the police station and the following story was unfolded.

Since several cars are kept at that garage, we have to leave a set of car keys to the security guard. A chap in his 20s used to clean all the cars there. Naturally he had access to all cars' keys. In the early morning, he removed our car from the garage and started driving it [I still don't know what was his intention]. Somehow his driving pattern raised suspicision to a local traffic police surgeon [he was barely 1 km away from the garage]. The surgeon stopped and challenged him. Naturally the guy couldn't answer any of the questions. The police arrested the guy on the spot and drove the car to the police station. From the photocopied papers inside the car, police discovered our phone no. and called our house.

When my dad reached police station, he faced following situation.

* Police wanted to see the receipt of the rent we paid for the garage. Now the premise was owned by an aged lady [80+]. She had a good personal relationship with us. None of the cars that stay there provide any offical receipt of the rent. Also, that premise is not registered for a parking space! So, they are going to issue a charge against the old lady.

* Police also said that the we have to issue a criminal charge [FIR] against the cleaner [he was already in the lockup by then] for attempted theft of the vehicle.

* Till the court decides the verdict, the car will remain in police custody
[just imagine what a junk box the car will be in police custody]

* It may take several months to resolve the issue.

Ultimately, my dad had to pay Rs 3,000 as bribe and got the car back after hassling for an hour.
The bottom line:
- the cleaner got scot free [except staying in lock up for an hour]
- for no fault of our own we became lighter by Rs 3,000

The whole incident happened before I reached home. But I think my dad did the right thing to get the car back.

Another point, I was getting bit low mileage for last 2 months. I thought it is because of excessive AC usage.
Now I'm confident that he was stealing fuel as well.

That idiot will lose his job in this garage but definitely will repeat the same elsewhere!!!

Damn!

PS: At least the car was intact anyway. In fact, the surgeon who drove the car told my dad "It was a nice driving experience".

[Shreeram]

woooo

"This Happens only in India" you know. No strict action taken & everything done by police is only for a bribe.
Good you got your car back.

[zulfikar]

They are not cops those are robbers...
dont give them respect...
in my whole life i only say 2-3 cops doing their jobs...

[satish_appasani]

Could also be a planned ploy by the cops and the cleaner together. Probably they are sharing the money. Check with your neighbours if there are similar cases.
Why is the parking rent receipt so much important to the cops? If it's mutual understanding between you and the landlord, what would you have to show them?

These cops cash on our unwillingness to visit courts and police stations.

[sandeepmdas]

Perhaps you should re-title this thread something like:
"Cleaner took car for a spin- Police robbed us"

[premchetan]

My friend had to pay Rs 8000 to get his bike back from the police station after it was found back from a gang of bike robbers in Pune.

[Rtech]

* Police also said that the we have to issue a criminal charge [FIR] against the cleaner [he was already in the lockup by then] for attempted theft of the vehicle.

* Till the court decides the verdict, the car will remain in police custody
[just imagine what a junk box the car will be in police custody]

* It may take several months to resolve the issue.

Ultimately, my dad had to pay Rs 3,000 as bribe and got the car back after hassling for an hour.
The bottom line:
- the b****rd cleaner got scot free [except staying in lock up for an hour]
- for no fault of our own we became lighter by Rs 3,000

Another wonderful example of our justice system at work. These cases make you seriously wonder whose side the law is on?

Why in God's name does you car, if found, need to be kept at the police station till the case is solved? WHY! For evidence? By the time the case does come up years later, there would not be much of a car left to identify, so what evidence?

[autozealot]

Buddy, good that your car was found in the same good condition.
These pandus are making it sound as if your vehicle has been found at a crime scene. Hah

[sumitkalindi]

looks like the cleaner was practising driving in your car, that explains all of it, the low milage, the erratic driving. Which area of calcutta you are from???

Just get hold of the cleaner, and recover the 3000 from him. may be you will need help from para people/dada.

[sandhurs1]

All well that ends well. God saved your car from becoming a junk tin....

[Zappo]

Police surgeon?!!
You mean the police sergeant

By the way be happy that you got back your car. However the local police definitely took you for a ride to extract the moolah from your dad.

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Police surgeon?!!
You mean the police sergeant

By the way be happy that you got back your car. However the local police definitely took you for a ride to extract the moolah from your dad.

Moderator Sahib, the thread you are replying to is going to be one year old very soon.

[deepak_ms]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Moderator Sahib, the thread you are replying to is going to be one year old very soon.

the thread is 1.5 years old. the thread was started on 6th July 2006 13:39

[nikkibike]

This is too scary an incident to all peace loving people! No justice to the sufferer and "THE" best justice to the troublers!
Its high time the laws are upgraded!
As everyone said, this cud be a nicely executed 'plot' too!