Bengaluru man walks into showroom, drives off with SUV worth Rs 18.6 lakh

Although the customer Jose Thomas had stolen the vehicle in January, a complaint was filed four months later in May.

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What is it like to get an SUV for just Rs 2 lakh? That is what a customer who arrived at a Nissan showroom in Bengaluru has allegedly done, albeit by stealing the vehicle in the pretext of performing a ritual for the car.

The customer - Jose Thomas aka Joseph - paid Rs 2 lakh as down payment for a Nissan Kicks vehicle and requested the manager at the showroom to allow him to take the car out for performing a ritual. The customer, however, never returned with the car and has been absconding for over four months now.

The incident occurred at the Surya Nissan showroom at Doddanekundi in the city on January 23. However, a manager at the showroom complained to the police at the HAL police station only on May 21, almost four months after the car went missing. The complaint was transferred to Mahadevapura police station on Thursday.

The complainant Ganesh Kumar Shetty, the manager of the Surya Nissan showroom in Doddanekundi, stated that a man named Jose Thomas alias Joseph came to the showroom enquiring about a Nissan Kicks vehicle at 6:30 pm on January 23.

After he was informed that the vehicle will cost Rs 18.6 lakh, Joseph paid Rs 2 lakh and requested to take the vehicle out for a ritual. Ganesh in his complaint states that he never returned with the vehicle. "He said that he would take the car for a ritual and come back. He has not come back till today. He is not receiving calls on his number and he is not found in the office either," reads the complaint.

When contacted, Ganesh declined to comment on why the complaint was filed only four months after the vehicle was stolen.

The investigation into the incident is underway and Ganesh is seeking Rs 16.6 lakh, the remaining payment, from Joseph. According to the complaint, Joseph had promised to pay the amount after the ritual. The car had a temporary registration number. The staff tried to trace him on his mobile phone and to his office address but with no luck.

"We have begun investigations to track this man. We have collected the details from the complainant," confirmed Abdul Ahad, DCP, Whitefield division.

An inspector familiar with the case told TNM that since the complaint was made four months after the incident, police will need time to investigate the case.