National Desk, 12th January: Transport officials in Maharashtra have uncovered a significant scam involving 60 vehicles, mainly buses and trucks, from Arunachal Pradesh. These vehicles were re-registered at the Vasai regional transport office (RTO) over the past three years, raising concerns among transporters and activists. The Vasai RTO suspects these vehicles were initially registered in Arunachal Pradesh with bogus documents before being transferred to Maharashtra, as discrepancies in engine and chassis numbers were found.
According to official documents accessed by PTI, the Vasai RTO initiated a police case last month and notified other RTOs in the state, urging them to track these 34 buses and 26 trucks. This incident follows a similar case filed last year concerning Arunachal-registered buses. Transporters and activists express bewilderment over how the Vasai RTO officials failed to detect fake chassis and engine numbers on such a large scale.
Dashrath Waghule, Deputy Regional Transport Officer of Vasai RTO, stated that the police investigation is underway, indicating a potential registration of these vehicles with bogus documents in Arunachal Pradesh. Concerns have been raised about the evasion of taxes or compliance issues, suspecting that these vehicles were transferred from the northeastern state. Activists question the efficiency of RTO staff in identifying tampered chassis and engine numbers, considering their training.
Shrikant Karve, an activist, questions the lapse in the scrutiny process, emphasizing that RTO inspectors should check the fitness, chassis, and engine numbers during the transfer of vehicles from other states. The suspected buses might be auctioned vehicles from banks, while the trucks could be BS-IV models unsold before the government’s deadline.
Officials and agents suggest that the registration in Arunachal Pradesh was based on physical bogus documents when the nationwide online vehicle registration system Vahan-4 was not operational. NOCs were obtained from Arunachal Pradesh for re-registration in Maharashtra. Bus operators’ leader, KV Shetty, calls for a CBI probe and insists on action against inspectors and ARTOs for re-registering vehicles without proper verification. The case reveals complex issues involving taxes, auctioned vehicles, and age manipulation through false registrations in different states.
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