A man claiming to be a doctor at Apollo hospital in Film Nagar, stole an Audi Q3 car worth over Rs 40 lakh from a used car dealer's showroom in Srinagar colony.
The incident happened on Thursday evening when the man took the car for a test drive.
According to the police, the man introduced himself as Gautam Reddy and walked into Nani Cars, a pre-owned cars showroom, at around11:30 am. He expressed his interest in buying an Audi car that was on display and requested for a test drive.
The dealer, Narendra Kumar, showed him a 2011 Audi Q3 model with registration number AP 28 DR 0005 and asked his employee Kashi to accompany the doctor for a test drive.
The Deccan Chronicle quoted a police official from Banjara Hills police station as saying, “The suspect drove the car with the dealer's associate for a while. When they reached Apollo Hospital, he requested Kashi to step out of the vehicle saying that he wanted to drive it alone. As Kashi got off, the suspect sped away with the vehicle.”
On realising that he had been conned, Narendra lodged a complaint at the Banjara Hills police station.
It was also reported that the police are checking CCTV footage from nearby traffic junctions and other shops to get a sketch of the accused.
Banjara Hills ACP Uday Kumar Reddy said that the accused had registered himself under a false name and did not furnish any identity cards at the showroom. Police have booked a case against the suspect under Section 379 of IPC for theft.
Last year, a similar incident took place when a 25-year-old man strode into a Harley Davidson showroom in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills and rode away with the test drive bike, a 'Street 750' model worth Rs 6 lakh.
The man introduced himself as Tahir and took the bike for a test ride from the showroom to the Jubilee Hills checkpost. Instead of taking a U-turn in front of the showroom, he sped off straight towards Nagarjuna Circle.