Man booked for allegedly cheating rickshaw buyer of ₹2.42 lakh through misleading loan details

The Paldi police have registered a cheating and criminal breach of trust case against an Ahmedabad resident after a Rajasthan native alleged that he was misled into purchasing a loan-financed auto-rickshaw and subsequently lost ₹2.42 lakh when the vehicle was repossessed and sold by the finance company.

Gautamsingh Bhawansingh Rathore (48), a driver originally from Dungarpur district in Rajasthan, alleged that Navinchandra Rameshbhai Chavda of Ambawadi concealed the actual number of outstanding loan instalments on an auto-rickshaw and induced him into taking over the vehicle and its loan liability.

Police said the transaction dates back to February-March 2023, when Rathore was working in Ahmedabad and was introduced to Chavda through a mutual acquaintance. Chavda allegedly offered to transfer ownership of his Bajaj auto-rickshaw, stating that only 25 loan instalments remained to be paid.

The complainant stated that he was shown the vehicle and was informed that the loan, financed through Bajaj Finance, originally consisted of 36 instalments, of which 11 had already been paid. Based on this representation, Rathore agreed to purchase the vehicle and paid ₹47,500 in cash to Chavda. A sale agreement was subsequently executed in March 2023.

Rathore further alleged that he regularly paid the remaining 25 instalments, amounting to ₹1.94 lakh, directly to Bajaj Finance. The payments were made in the name of the original borrower, Chavda, as the loan account had not yet been transferred.

However, after completing what he believed were the final instalments, Rathore approached the finance company to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC), only to discover that the original loan actually comprised 42 instalments and that six instalments remained unpaid.

When Rathore confronted Chavda over the discrepancy, the latter allegedly refused to pay the outstanding amount and told him that he could settle the dues himself if he wished to retain the vehicle.

Police said the matter escalated when Bajaj Finance later repossessed the auto-rickshaw from outside a relative's residence in Ahmedabad. The complainant subsequently learnt that the vehicle had been auctioned or sold by the finance company after October 2025.

Despite repeated demands, Chavda neither reimbursed the ₹1.94 lakh paid towards the loan nor returned the ₹47,500 paid as consideration for the vehicle, causing a total loss of ₹2.42 lakh.

Based on the complaint, Paldi police have registered a case against Chavda for alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust. Investigators are examining the sale agreement, loan records and payment receipts to determine whether the complainant was deliberately misled regarding the outstanding financial liability attached to the vehicle.