Tura: In a case that could be just the tip of an iceberg, East Garo Hills (EGH) District Transport Officer (DTO) Gene Kelly G Momin was arrested by the Assam police on Saturday after huge anomalies were found in the registration of vehicles that were either stolen or were tax defaulters.
Interestingly, immediately after information of the arrest of one of the touts involved in the case was received, a case of arson was registered at the office of the DTO in East Garo Hills, in which several important documents were lost to fire. While there is still official version on the number of such vehicles that were passed off or were given fake documents, sources said the number could go into hundreds.
As per Assam police reports, a naka was placed before Agia PS on May 5 based on specific inputs and one Suzuki Dezire vehicle was detained for search.
During the search by the police, five registration certificates of various vehicles were seized from the owner of the vehicle identified as one Golam Ali @Soto, a resident of Kismatpur, Goalpara. As per the findings, all 6 original registration certificates were issued by the DTO, Gene Kelly.
What turned the case was the fact that of the 6 original registration certificates, 5 of the certificates were found to be made with false engine and chassis numbers. In fact, even for the vehicle of Golam Ali that was detained by the police (ML 07 C 1786), the engine number of the vehicle showed a different owner and the chassis number was void on the Maruti Suzuki database.
Following the finding, police investigated all the registration certificates found in Ali’s car and it was found that 4 out of the 5 vehicle numbers came with fake engine and chassis numbers (as per the company – Suzuki and Tata, database).
A thorough investigation was carried out and it was found that the DTO EGH had issued the registration certificates without checking any valid credentials of the engine or chassis number of these vehicles.
Further, as per police sources, immediately after a case was registered and Golam Ali arrested by Assam police vide case in Agia on May 5, a suspected case of arson was reported in the office of the DTO, apparently related to the paper trail in the case. Important documents of the case were apparently burnt.
“A strong nexus has been running a business of false documentation for various kinds of vehicles, which are basically failed for registration. The nexus has been re-registering such vehicles in Meghalaya by tampering the chassis number and other important details,” said Manimoy Tamuly, OC, Agia Police Station.
As per Assam police, following sufficient evidence and details of monetary transactions between Ali and Momin, the DTO was arrested on Saturday, May 13.
As per the initial findings, Ali along with his associates would approach the DTO to register vehicles that had either been stolen, had tax failures or were dubiously auctioned as new vehicles. Many old vehicles were apparently provided with a new registration number. Most of the vehicles that were illegally registered belonged to the state of Assam.
Assam police registered a case in Agia police station under sections 120B/379/411/471/468/420 and started a thorough investigation. After sufficient evidence was gathered, the DTO of East Garo Hills was arrested. Gulam Ali and his driver have been sent to judicial custody.
Goalpara Superintendent of Police V. V. Rakesh Reddy P said, “During the interrogation with Golam Ali, it was revealed that the East Garo Hills DTO was his accomplice.” He added that the police have found three vehicles and five registration cards from his possession.
SP Reddy also said, “We came to know that there was a fire incident at the DTO office recently. We must investigate whether the incident was part of a conspiracy or not.” He also stated that there was a possibility of attempt to destroy evidence by the burning of relevant documents stored in the DTO office.
Circle Inspector Siraj Ingti and Manimoy Tamuly, Officer in charge of the Agia Police Station led a police team that went to East Garo Hills DTO office at Williamnagar and arrested the District Transport Officer, Gene Kelly G Momin.
“A nexus was found to be running the business of false documents for vehicles. By tempering the chassis number and other things, vehicles that had failed registration were re-registered as new ones,” said Manimoy Tamuly, OC, Agia police station.
Following information from sources, the police conducted a search operation on May 4 and arrested a man named Gulam Ali for possessing a vehicle that was registered with anomalies. Further investigation led to to the seizing of two more vehicles.
Assam police registered a case in Agia police station under sections 120B/379/411/471/468/420 and started a thorough investigation. After sufficient evidence was gathered, the DTO of East Garo Hills was arrested. Gulam Ali and his driver have been sent to judicial custody.
Goalpara Superintendent of Police V. V. Rakesh Reddy P said, “During the interrogation with Golam Ali, it was revealed that the East Garo Hills DTO was his accomplice.” He added that the police have found three vehicles and five registration cards from his possession.
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SP Reddy also said, “We came to know that there was a fire incident at the DTO office recently. We must investigate whether the incident was part of a conspiracy or not.” He also stated that there was a possibility of attempt to destroy evidence by the burning of relevant documents stored in the DTO office.
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