[Rajeev1]

Originally Posted by Vinil27

Hi All

Vinil here, this is my first post here and never wanted it to be in a situation like this though. Have been a dormant user but a very avid follower of the forum.

Just to update, this is my cousin's Vento.
He was staying at his friends place that night.
He was not involved in any road rage incident even before this incident and neither does he meeting someone with his built ( I am taking the guy who burnt the car for reference here ).
From the prima fascia , it looks like the case of mistaken identity only.

As on date, he is yet to identify the Mercedes ML guy. None of the camera's in the area managed to get a clear shot of his number plate.

Would be great if people here can suggest us with some inputs on trying to get hold of the culprit.

First of all, my sympathies to your cousin who is the victim of this horrible incident and hope he / the police brings the perpetrator to book soon.

A few observations from the shared video.

1) This was a targeted and planned act and not some random crime. Your cousins vehicle was the intended target. This is evident in the purposeful way the Mercedes ML enters the narrow space next to the Vento (for recce) and reverses (for the escape).

2) Probability is high that the registration of the perpetrators vehicle is also CH;DL or PB. (should give you a starting point for further search)

3) Tracing a CH;PB;DL registered white Mercedes ML in Mumbai through the Merc service centre should be relatively simple.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Like GTO mentioned, if the cops want to trace a car, they will do it. Mumbai has a lot of CCTVs on the roads whose feed can be analysed 3 hr before and after the event for clues. Additionally, the car is a rare/unique one. Should be easy to simply check RTO records for all possible light coloured Mercedes SUVs registered in nearby RTOs and cross referencing them with the e-challan system for matches. e.g. - to rule out the ones that were in other locations at the time of the crime.

Looks like a recent model of the GLE 250d to me - the rims being the biggest give away.
How many would they have sold in Mumbai recently (2016/17) - a hundred at most?

I am sure it will be easy for the Mumbai Police to crack - all it needs is severe pressure from the public, and a lot of newspapers covering it to bring the cops to do anything about it.

[Vinil27]

Originally Posted by Rajeev1

First of all, my sympathies to your cousin who is the victim of this horrible incident and hope he / the police brings the perpetrator to book soon.
===========
3) Tracing a CH;PB;DL registered white Mercedes ML in Mumbai through the Merc service centre should be relatively simple.

Yes, the whole act was a targeted one for sure.
But was my cousin the actual target - NOT SURE ! As he has not had any problems in the area whatsoever. Besides that , as per the society guard, there is generally another Vento parked there . It was sheer bad luck for Rohit that day.

On seeing the involvement of Mercedes, I was sure that it should be relatively easier to track the culprit and we have been constantly following up with Police but sad to say that they do not seem to be very keen on getting details.

It has been a tough week for my cousin and sad to say but there isn't a lot of progress yet.

[iamahunter]

We have a lot of cars which are not Mumbai registered, in Mumbai. No-one sees any issue with that. Take a casual trip on the W.E Highway and you will spot cars for multiple states.

Reasons that I can think..
1. Mistaken Identity : Is there any other VW car in the society? A Vento fascia is similar to Polo and some what similar to Jetta. A non-enthusiast person can hardly spot the difference. If there is, you can speak to its owner and try to get some info regarding any enmity/road-rage.

2. Road-rage : Now this does not mean that you had an argument with someone on the road. Sometimes a simple overtake is also taken as an EGO issue, especially with people with less brain and more money. Many times we tend ignore such things, but these people make it their life mission to destroy you. High chances that you might not remember it, but if you can stress and think, you might remember it as well.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Vinil27

Besides that , as per the society gaurd, there is generally another Vento parked there . It was sheer bad luck for Rohit that dat.

Probably, the owner of this other Vento might be able to help give some insights? Have you guys been able to talk to him?

Looks like the attack was on him, and your brother accidently parked there that day.

[Vinil27]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Probably, the owner of this other Vento might be able to help give some insights? Have you guys been able to talk to him?

Looks like the attack was on him, and your brother accidently parked there that day.

Dear Crazy Driver
Yes, even we think that the attack was targeted to that other person.
The police did question him but he is claiming that he too doesnt know this guy.

As per police , they are not convinced but they are still looking for some clues.
The only issue is , there is no progress so far.

Rest, let's see how things shape up in the future.

Tx
Vinil

[Tojo_GotBhp]

Purely an unfortunate incident.

Does the affected Vento, or the other Vento have dash cam installed in them?

If positive, looking at them could possibly give out some very vital info. For instance, something like a overtake that might have provoked the Mercedes owner for a revenge. It could also help in finding out the registration number of the Merc!

Sincerely hope this issue is sorted out soon!

Keep revvin'
Tojo_GotBhp

[chandrda]

Really unfortunate incident.

Police don't bother to progress in such incident unless until there is some pressure on them like political, media, public or some influential person is involved. Police assume that as long as no one is hurt and there is insurance to cover the losses, the affected party will forget in time.

As far as I know, most of the state police have the latest technology to track mobile signals. They can track the mobile signal location to an accuracy of 2 feet. Its a matter of getting the details of the mobiles which are active/inactive in the towers near the area at that time and eliminating the obvious ones.

May be they are already doing it in the background.

Regards

[GTO]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Looks like a recent model of the GLE 250d to me - the rims being the biggest give away. How many would they have sold in Mumbai recently (2016/17) - a hundred at most?

If the cops do investigate, they should not only look at RTO records, but also the cars that come for servicing at Mercedes workshops in Mumbai. Reason = Too many luxury cars here with non-MH plates.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Probably, the owner of this other Vento might be able to help give some insights?

. Brilliant suggestion!

[Akshay1234]

Well that's definitely a 2017 Mercedes GLE 250d, the wheels being the giveaway.

Purely bad luck, I'm guessing they were looking out for someone else. The person whose vehicle is usually parked there should be pushed for answers.

Also considering the amount of CCTVs installed in Mumbai last year, it shouldn't be difficult for the Mumbai Police to spot the car in the area and find the number (those cameras are all very high quality) and finish the issue.

[saurabh2711]

My complete sympathies to the victim. Such cowardly act in a city like Mumbai. Don't want to guess what can be done in Pune!!

I hope insurance covers such losses.

Originally Posted by TusharK

.....
05:05:00
Police arrives on location and investigates the scene. No one knows the real reason of fire as guards didn’t see the car entering and exiting the society. We are in impression that how can car short circuit or break in fire while in parking mode....

I mean seriously, is this a joke or a ghost taking revenge in a Mercedes with poor Vento?

How can the guards not see a car of such huge dimensions Enter & exit without being noticed.? Which car did they failed to see, Vento at normal times or Merc at odd times. Or simply did they gave way to So called "VIP" bypassing all formalities set for such situations.

There has to be set instruction to these guards within the society to note the numbers of all cars entering at odd times, even a resident. I can only guess (& NOM) they might be sleeping or they have a hand (for reasons unknown). Get them investigated as well, if police wants this case to be solved.

Even after this, I may be "making mountain of a mole hill" in the suggestion, but get the security replaced. Before you see a repeat or some more ghastly experience.


Regards,
Saurabh

[Ry_der]

It was surely a horrible incident. If the location were Delhi or any other north indian city, it wouldn't be a surprise but in mumbai its almost unthinkable.

IMO FSL(Forensic Science Laboratory) image detailing may extract the vehicle number but police department might not be interested doing so because its a costly and time taking procedure, may cost more than the repair bill itself.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by octane1002

At the cost of quoting the obvious (too obvious too miss out)..Victim's car is from another state.

I daresay a not so popular belt with localites here, CH being the Northern part of India. Not saying that this could be the only reason, but it could be that by reason of his car being a new entrant in the society (and it being CH regd didnt help matters), it was targetted.

I doubt this can be the reason. I lived in the same society with a UP registered car till a few months back for a nearly a year. Before that lived in the society next to it for two years and always parked my car on the road where finding a parking was very difficult after 6pm.

Never faced any issues, Mumbai people are generally very welcoming to everyone. One time I did face an issue was once when a guy occupied my parking spot and then went on a trip (but that was a guy from Delhi with a HR registered car )

[dextor]

As the security people did not see the car coming in & going out of society, is it possible that the culprit is from the same society?

[The Observer]

This is disturbing to say the least. Feel terrible for the owner of the car and the family. I hope the insurance company pays up. Amidst the theories of road rage and mistaken identity, gang initiation also starts with such attacks. In the case of calculated revenge the possibility of the attacker remembering the number plate of the target vehicle is high and this case its quite obvious it was a different car unless they hired some goons with not much processing power in the first floor to do this ( but then why would the goons come in a Merc? ). Questions remain but Police can crack this easily if they want to and they delaying this points to one thing only - obviously somebody with bags of cash is behind this.

A private detective agency can be approached (need to spend more money of course) and get this solved and file a case with a good lawyer. Immediately approach nearby societies who are in the vicinity in front of whom the vehicle must have passed before and after the act, their CCTV's could have recorded something identifiable more clearly. Also CCTV footage of nearby petrol bunks can be looked at, possible the flammable liquid was petrol/diesel and purchased from nearby, forensics can determine this quickly

The society can also file a case in spite of this being a targeted attack, the fire could have caused serious damage to the nearby vehicles as well as spread and destroyed property and potentially life too.

I pray justice is done