A bizarre situation unfolded today outside Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba, where two Maruti Suzuki Ertiga vehicles with identical registration numbers led to a security scare and an investigation into a loan evasion scheme. The unusual chain of events began when a concerned individual noticed the two vehicles with matching number plates — both marked with yellow plates indicating they were registered for commercial use.
Around noon, the two cars arrived at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a high-security location that was targeted during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The hotel’s security protocols, heightened by its sensitive status, quickly alerted local police upon the discovery of the duplicate vehicles. Given the history of the hotel and its proximity to sensitive locations, the police responded rapidly.
The vehicles were swiftly tracked and brought to the Colaba police station, where an investigation into the situation unfolded. The second vehicle in question, an Ertiga SUV, had been involved in a case of loan evasion. The driver confessed to having altered the registration plate number in an attempt to escape car loan recovery agents.
The drama began when Sakir Ali, the legitimate owner of one of the Ertiga vehicles, began receiving frequent challans for his car’s number plate — a number he knew his car had not been involved with. The challans often related to locations the car had never been. When the situation worsened, Ali registered a complaint with the traffic police, but the issue remained unresolved.
Ali’s suspicions were confirmed today when he encountered another Ertiga, which looked identical and bore the same number plate, while dropping off a passenger at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Ali tried to stop the other car but was unsuccessful. He immediately alerted the police, who intercepted the second vehicle. Upon questioning, the driver of the second vehicle admitted to altering the final digit of the registration number to escape loan recovery agents.
The driver, struggling to pay off an auto loan, had altered the vehicle’s number, hoping to avoid seizure by financial institutions. Police said that while the vehicle’s number was almost identical to Ali’s car, it was not an attempt to breach hotel security. Authorities have confirmed that the case has been registered against the driver for evading the loan.
This incident sheds light on the lengths to which some individuals may go to avoid financial responsibility, highlighting both the ingenuity of loan evasion schemes and the diligence of Mumbai’s police and security systems in keeping the city safe.
Sources By Agencies
