Illustration for representational purpose

GURUGRAM: A man was booked on Monday for stealing a Harley-Davidson bike worth around Rs 10 lakh from Sector 34 during a test-ride on Saturday. The accused had approached the seller via an online platform for buying and selling used products and requested for a test-ride after paying a token amount of Rs 7,000.

Ajay Singh, resident of Palam Vihar, had posted an advertisement on an online platform to sell his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on June 13. The next day, he got a message through the app from a man who introduced himself as Rahul Nagar (30) and expressed his interest. The two connected over WhatsApp.

Following this, the accused expressed his desire to visit Gurugram for physical inspection of the bike before finalising the deal. “He met me at Cyber Hub around 11.30am, inspected the bike and said he will revert soon,” said Singh, adding that during their interaction, the accused had introduced himself as a marble businessman from Agra. He said he shipped stone slabs to Canada. “He spoke in fluent English. He had extensive knowledge of motorcycles and seemed like a genuine buyer,” Singh said.

After a few hours of their meeting, around 3.40pm, Singh received a WhatsApp message from the accused, asking Singh to come to Capital Harley-Davidson showroom at Sector 34. The accused wanted to check the history of the bike at the showroom.

“After he inquired with the staff about the bike’s history, we closed the deal at Rs 7 lakh, he gave me the token amount, and asked for a test-ride,” said Singh. When the accused didn’t return after a few minutes, Singh called on his mobile number several times. It went went unanswered, and it was switched off within the next few minutes.

After collecting the showroom’s CCTV footage, Singh approached police. An FIR was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the IPC. “Visuals of the accused were captured on CCTV cameras inside and outside the showroom. We are scanning the footage to identify him,” said Sudeep Kumar, SHO, Sadar police station.

