Malappuram: The Wandoor police on Tuesday arrested three men for cheating a car owner by falsely claiming that his rented vehicle had been seized by the police with MDMA inside it. The accused are Alungal Abdul Wahid (26) of Thattan Kunnu, Karutheni; Maruthath Abdul Latheef (27) of Thekkumpuram, Koorad; and Pooladan Asfal (26) of Karunalayapadi, Wandoor. 

According to police, on October 22, Abdul Latheef had rented the complainant’s car. When the vehicle was due to be returned on October 24, Abdul Wahid called the owner, claiming that the car had been seized at Ambalappadi after police found MDMA inside. The accused then demanded ₹50,000 to “settle” the issue and get the vehicle released.

They told the complainant they already had ₹28,000 and asked him to send the remaining ₹22,000. To make their claim believable, the trio parked the car in front of the Wandoor police station, took a photo, and sent it as “proof.” Believing the story, the complainant sent the money through a friend. The accused then returned the car and shared the money among themselves.

The fraud came to light when the complainant later mentioned the incident to a police officer he knew, prompting an investigation. Acting on the orders of District Police Chief R Viswanath, a special team led by Nilambur DySP Saju K Abraham arrested the three accused.

Police said Abdul Latheef had recently been released on bail in a case involving 40 grams of MDMA, while Asfal had previous cases related to online fraud and assault.

The investigation team included Sub-Inspectors Vasudevan Oottupuram and V K Pradeep, along with members of the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force,  Sunil Mampad, Abhilash Kaippini, Ashif Ali, T Nibindas, and Jio Jacob.