Watch out for fake garage employees

A Cuffe Parade assistant bank manager learnt this lesson the hard way when her car was stolen by a duo posing as employees of a service station

Watch out for fake garage employees

A Cuffe Parade assistant bank manager learnt this lesson the hard way when her car was stolen by a duo posing as employees of a service station

Inu00a0a case that could serve as a warning for vehicle owners, an assistant bank manager from Cuffe Parade had her car stolen by two people who claimed to be the employees of a service station. On June 24, Mary John, who works for the State Bank of Travancore and is married to a Lt Commander of the Navy, called up the National Garage in Mahalaxmi to report that her hatchback's roof was leaking and it was delivering much less mileage than promised.u00a0

Gone in 24 hours:u00a0Mary John's car that was stolen from Afghan Church
by two men, who posed as service station employees

Two days later, she got a call from the 'service station' to tell her that the request had been registered and to confirm the time for the car's pick up. In the evening, two people came to the designated pick-up pointu00a0-- Afghan Churchu00a0-- and took her car.

Con job
On June 27, John called up the National Garage to enquire about the status when she was told that her car wasn't there and that her service request had not even been registered. She spoke to a few more employees and got the same answer each time.

"That evening, I received a call from a cellphone number and someone called Vinayak told me that my car was at the Cotton Green body shop of the garage and would take some more time to be delivered. I heaved a sigh of relief," said John. The relief, however, proved to be short-lived for, when she called back on the cellphone number the next day, she was told that it belonged to a PCO in Mumbai Central.

She called up the National Garage branches at Mahalaxami and Cotton green and approached the Cuffe Parade police to file an FIR when she was told that her car was not at either of the branches. "I am shocked at the behaviour of the Cuffe Parade police. They closed the file and the insurance company also refused to pay the claim saying it was a case of cheating, not theft," added an irked John.

The Other Side
J K Kharat, senior inspector, Cuffe Parade station, said, "We have closed the file temporarily on the basis of a court order. We will reopen it if we find new clues." The National Garage employee who answered the phone said his general manager was not present at the time. He said he was aware of the case and that "the reply has been given" to John.