Was it Taranjeet Singh, a businessman of Sector 39, or Tarmeet Singh, a resident of Sector 19, who bought the right to flaunt the 0001 number plate for Rs 7.01 lakh at an auction of choice numbers of CH01AV series, held by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) on Saturday?

Confusion prevailed about the identity of the man at the end of the day. According to the RLA record, Taranjeet Singh got the number for his Pajero SUV. But Taranjeet Singh denied having participated in the bidding. Also, in the records of the accounts of RLA, the name of the man was Tarmeet Singh.

Contacted on the mobile number given in the RLA record, Taranjeet Singh denied having participated in the bidding or allowed anyone to participate on his behalf.

"I own a Hyundai i10. Why will I buy a number worth Rs 7 lakh? Someone has impersonated me and has used my name," he said.

RLA authorities, however, claimed that they had verified the documents and the name of the person who outbid everyone else for 0001 was indeed Taranjeet Singh.

"He had earlier applied for another number for which the security was Rs 15,000. He got a draft for that amount. However, he expressed a desire to bid for registration number 0001 which had the security deposit of Rs 25,000. We allowed him after he deposited Rs 10,000 cash," said a RLA official. But in the records of the RLA accounts, the name of the man who got the registration number 0001 was Tarmeet Singh, a resident of Sector 19, Chandigarh.

When asked to clarify, an RLA official said, "We will verify the documents tomorrow (Sunday). Sometimes, people later realise that they have gone for a much higher amount than they can afford to pay and try to withdraw. Anyone who tries to withdraw after bidding will be barred from future bidding."

The auction, in which a total of 83 numbers were sold, fetched the RLA Rs 47.50 lakh. In the last auction of the CH01AU series, held on August 2, RLA had fetched Rs 40.32 lakh. Then the CH01AU series 0001 had got RLA Rs 6.25 lakh. Pawan Kumar Mittal, a realtor from Chandigarh had bought the number for his Toyota Fortuner. At the auction held for CH01AT series earlier, 0001 had gone under the hammer for a whopping Rs 9.1 lakh.

In Saturday's auction, the second highest amount, Rs 2.6 lakh, was fetched by number CH01AV0007 which was bought by Gulnoor Ghuman, while the third highest amount was offered for CH01AV0005 which sold for Rs 2.2 lakh.

Registration number 0003 was bought by Satwant Singh, a businessman for his Range Rover. "I have other cars also with the same registration numbers which I bought in the earlier biddings," said Singh. In the last auction, 0003 had got the second highest bid of Rs 3.2 lakh from Jagjit Singh Mann who had bought it for his Audi A6.

Kabir who made a bid for 0014 and got it for Rs 1.5 lakh said, "Last time I could not buy my desired number, so I was waiting for the next series. I have bought this number for my Range Rover."

Some numbers also fetched good money. Registration number 0050, which fetched Rs 94,000, was a surprise for many bidders. A businessman from Parwanoo bought it. Other numbers that fetched good prices were 0004, which was sold at Rs 1.5 lakh; 0010 sold at Rs 1.77 lakh; 0009 sold at 1.75 lakh and 0013 at 1.2 lakh.

The auction for registration numbers 0101 onwards will be held on Sunday. "We are hoping to earn more than Rs 70 lakh from the auction," said an RLA official.

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