Mumbai woman arrested for selling cars seized by cops

If you were offered high end cars at a quarter of their regular price, would you buy it?  Of course! But would you still buy it if they lay in a police yard in connection with some crime? Well, four people were willing to and they fell into a trap. [caption id=“attachment_1959569” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image.[/caption] According to a Mumbai Mirror report, a 26-year-old woman from Mazgaon in south Mumbai duped four people into believing cars seized by the Mumbai police were up for sale at prices much lower than their market rate. Samina Usmani hoodwinked her victims by convincing them that the cops wanted to auction off these vehicles. She has been booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust under Indian Penal Code sections 420 and 406. This case brings to light a bigger problem concerning seized vehicles that are waiting to be released after payment of a fine to the police or in cases involve waiting on the outcome of a legal battle between the owners and the police. The New Indian Express explains why the police get stuck with so many vehicles very poignantly. Traffic violation related vehicles come under the jurisdiction of the Transport Department and the police ensure its safe custody. However, in case its owner is untraceable it remains in police custody until its rightful owner is located. It will only be released to the owner after he files an affidavit in the court either during the trial or post trial. But in most cases, owners involved in accident related incidents tend to abandon their vehicle as it becomes a liability. One opportunistic Yahoo user  posted a question asking if there was any auction for police seized cars in India. But the bigger question is whether you’d be willing to buy such a car.