A copy of the letter was sent to Police Commissioner Jayant Umranikar and owner of the vehicle, Laxumiya Saylu Jalanila of Kharalwadi.

In the letter, Sontakke said Chavan was supposed to take permission from RTO authorities and inform them in writting before parking the seized autorickshaw at the RTO premises. “But he failed to do so and hence he is completely responsible for the autorickshaw.”

Chavan had seized the vehicle on January 27, 2006, near Holkar Bridge “for driving out of specified jurisdiction and carrying excessive passengers.” The same day, he sent a letter to the RTO in this regard.

But RTO Sontakke said in the letter that Chavan has only informed them about the offences committed by the autorickshaw driver and requested the RTO to take further action. However, Chavan neither submitted a report of the action he had taken against the driver and owner of the autorickshaw nor did he inform the RTO while parking the seized vehicle. So there was no record of Jalanila’s vehicle at the RTO for taking further action.

Meanwhile, the Bundgarden police and the State Anti-Corruption bureau (ACB) have started investigations into the matter following the complaint lodged by the rickshaw owner. Sontakke has asked Chavan to submit a report of his action against Jalanila’s autorickshaw to the ACB office and then take the vehicle from RTO premises.

Jalanila said traffic police of Khadki division and employees at the RTO had told him that his vehicle permit was suspended for six months and the vehicle would remain at the RTO premises. “When I went back to RTO after six months, important spare parts of my vehicle, including the engine and tyres, were missing,” he said.

“I lodged a complaint with the RTO about the theft. But there was no response despite repeated visits to the RTO for two years. Then I took help of social activist Sanjay Agarwal, president of Anti Corruption and Oppression Committee of India and lodged a police complaint,” he said.