Something unsettling is happening on the highways in and around Mumbai. Organised gangs are posing as loan recovery agents, chasing down vehicles, forcing drivers to stop and using a mix of intimidation and fake documentation to extort money. Two recent incidents — one on the Eastern Express Highway, another on the Mumbai–Pune corridor near Lonavala — make the pattern impossible to ignore.
The Mumbai Chase: 'Your Car Has Unpaid EMIs'
On 8 April 2026, around 4:45pm, Sarabjit Chadha was driving on the Eastern Express Highway when five men on two motorcycles began aggressively tailing him. They signalled him to pull over, claiming his vehicle had pending EMIs (equated monthly instalments).
He knew his car was completely debt-free. Instead of stopping, he drove directly to the nearest police station in Chunabhatti,
Mr Chadha wrote on X. That decision almost certainly prevented things from getting worse.
At the police station, the fraud started falling apart almost immediately. The suspects tried to produce ‘recovery proof’ through a mobile app — the vehicle number plate matched, but the app showed it as a Honda City, while Mr Chadha owned an entirely different car! The car details on the ‘app’ simply did not match the actual car.
What happened next was arguably more troubling than the chase itself. After one suspect was detained, a larger group arrived at the police station, including someone who reportedly claimed political connections. The atmosphere shifted, Mr Chadha wrote.
Pressure mounted on him — not to pursue a formal complaint, but to accept a written apology and walk away. After several hours, Mr Chadha made the difficult call to exit the situation, citing personal safety. The complaint was never filed.
The Lonavala Incident: The '₹10 Lakh Loan' Trap
A separate case near Lonavala followed a similar but more aggressive script. An owner and driver of a pre-owned car was tailed for several kilometres before the bikers overtook him and forced him to stop under a flyover — deliberately isolated, away from traffic and witnesses.
The two men claimed the car had an outstanding loan of ₹10 lakh with ICICI Bank and demanded his cooperation. The owner, who had completed all legal transfer of ownership, was suspicious from the start. He refused to get out and kept his window minimally open.
The moment he reached for his phone and called the police, the fraudsters lost their nerve. They abruptly shifted their story to vague ‘documentation inconsistencies’ and fled, says
a post by Pune Mirror on X.
How This Scam Actually Works
These are not random opportunists. This is a structured operation that follows a recognisable pattern every time.
Targets are, typically, private cars, with pre-owned vehicles particularly favoured — they are easier to spin a loan story around. The gang uses bikes to tail and pressure the driver into stopping, preferably somewhere isolated. Once they have your attention, they claim to be loan recovery agents or investigators. They back this up with a mobile app or document showing loan details — which, on closer inspection, are fabricated or simply mismatched. Throughout, the pressure is relentless: urgency, confusion and the threat of legal consequences. Their main aim, as that of all fraudsters, is to extort money by hook or crook!
The whole thing is engineered to exploit one thing — the fear most people have of financial and legal trouble. The scam works because it feels plausible just long enough for victims to comply.
What You Should Do
1. Don't stop on the road. This is the most important thing to understand: no legitimate loan recovery agent from a bank or lender has the legal authority to physically stop your vehicle on a public highway. If you are being followed, keep driving. Head for the nearest police station, a petrol pump, a toll booth — anywhere crowded and well-lit. Never pull over on an isolated stretch.
2. Verify before you do anything. Genuine loan recovery is a documented legal process. Banks send notices. They don't dispatch agents to intercept cars mid-journey on expressways. If someone is claiming otherwise, it is fraud. Full stop.
3. Stay inside your car. Keep the doors locked and the windows up. If you must communicate, do it through a barely open window. Your car is your first and most immediate layer of protection — don't give it up.
4. Call the police the moment something feels wrong. Don't wait to be certain. Dial emergency services or your local police control room (100) as soon as you sense danger. As the Lonavala case showed, even the act of reaching for your phone can be enough to make these people disappear.
5. Record everything you can. Use your phone to capture video of the individuals, their bikes, and their number plates. Note whatever they say and claim. This evidence can make a real difference when it comes to law enforcement. Always use a dashcam in your car and keep recording everything.
6. Sort your paperwork if you own a pre-owned car. Make sure the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the previous financier is in hand, hypothecation has been removed from the vehicle registration certificate (RC) and you have verified directly with the lender or financier if there is any doubt. Ambiguity is exactly what these scammers exploit — remove it.
7. Don't be fooled by official-looking apps. A slick mobile interface means nothing. Digital screens can display anything — real, fake, or doctored. The only communication from a financer or lender that matters is through official, verified channels.
What the Law Actually Says
Legitimate vehicle repossession is a legally regulated process with clear boundaries — not a roadside ambush. The Supreme Court made this clear in
ICICI Bank vs Shanti Devi Sharma (2008) case, where recovery agents forcibly seized a financed vehicle from a borrower's home without legal authority, a humiliation that tragically ended in the borrower's son taking his own life. The Court condemned such muscle tactics outright and held that banks are vicariously liable for the unlawful conduct of their agents.
Following a surge in borrower complaints, Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) issued a notification in November 2025, making it unambiguously clear that lenders and their loan recovery agents cannot resort to intimidation or harassment — verbal or physical — during debt collection. Agents must carry an authorisation letter and an identity card from the lender or bank, give prior notice to the borrower, and maintain a record of all customer calls.
A recovery agent intercepting your vehicle on a highway without documentation or prior notice isn't just suspicious — it is a direct violation of established law and RBI regulations.
A Growing Threat
Two incidents in quick succession on two of Maharashtra's busiest corridors suggest this isn't a local problem — it may already be spreading across major road networks. The sophistication is what makes it dangerous: coordinated groups, fake digital proof and, in at least one case, alleged political influence being used to suppress a complaint.
The veneer of legitimacy is the whole point. These gangs are not just robbing people — they are constructing enough plausible doubt to make victims question themselves.
And every time you get behind the wheel, always remember, no genuine financial recovery process starts with a roadside ambush.
Happy Journey!
Stay Alert, Stay Safe!!
