A GPS trail, a mismatched engine number and two Thars – a three-day car rental allegedly ended with an engine transplant in Vadodara, much to the shock of its 30-year-old owner Akash Bhagat.The Vadodara city police are investigating allegations that the original engine of Bhagat’s Rs 15-lakh Mahindra Thar was removed, fitted into another Thar and replaced with a faulty engine before the vehicle was returned to him.A weeklong run to various mechanics and garages in the city as well as a confirmation from the original manufacturer prompted Bhagat to approach the city police, eventually leading the Local Crime Branch of Vadodara Zone 3, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Gupta to intercept the vehicle (on August 4) driving around with the stolen engine and unravel an unusual alleged fraud – three persons, including an acquaintance of Bhagat, had conspired to hire his year-old Thar under the guise of self-drive rental with an eye on the original engine.Bhagat, who runs a self-drive vehicle rental business, told The Indian Express that he rented out his Thar for self-drive between July 14 and 17 through one of the accused, Krishna Pandey, an acquaintance of his who would often bring clients seeking self-drive vehicles. The vehicle was rented at Rs 4,000 a day and was not supposed to be taken outside Vadodara city.When the vehicle was returned to Bhagat, however, something was clearly wrong. “When I handed over the vehicle, it was running at 120kmph but when it came back, it was making unusual noises and could not comfortably run beyond around 40 kmph. I was told (by Pandey) that the vehicle had faced an issue while it was in the possession of the clients and they had got it serviced at a garage. I initially understood that there was a problem with the vehicle’s nozzle or injector and sent it for repair…” Bhagat told this newspaper.The real problem emerged when the vehicle was examined at a garage after an unsuspecting Bhagat had already spent around Rs 40,000 for repairs. “My trusted garage mechanic told me that we would need to inspect the engine in detail as no other repair was able to resolve the issue… My vehicle is only just about a year old… When he opened the engine, he found that it did not match the RC book records,” Bhagat says.A different engine bearing number was allegedly found fitted in it, prompting Bhagat to begin tracing the vehicle’s movements through its GPS. He said, “The location data took me to a garage, where its battery had been removed… When I first approached the garage owner, he said he was not aware as he is not present in the garage all day… Later, however, he confessed that Sunnysinh had brought in two Thar vehicles – a black one belonging to me and another white Thar. The garage owner was promised Rs 15,000 to replace the engines. Usually, this process would take a couple of days, but I learnt that they had already removed the Thar engine in order to complete the theft quickly and the process took about six hours.”Story continues below this adThe three accused have been identified as Krishna Pandey, the acquaintance through whom Bhagat said he would receive self drive clients; Sunnysinh Rajput, who also runs a self-drive car rental business and garage owner Deep Jitendrakumar, who allegedly carried out the engine change.Senior police officers of Vadodara city police told this newspaper on Friday that all three accused were arrested on Wednesday and have since been granted bail as per procedure. A fourth accused, Omkar Singh, described by police as an accomplice of Sunny, is yet to be apprehended.Police said Rajput and Omkar had previously been booked in an attempted murder case at Bapod police station in the city in 2024 and had also been booked under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti Social Activities Act, 1985 (PASA).The three accused were apprehended and handed over to Panigate police, where the FIR was subsequently registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), and 54 (liability of an abettor who is present when the offence is committed).Story continues below this adFor Bhagat, however, the police action has not immediately restored what he lost. He says, “The engine of my vehicle has been fitted into his vehicle… Both vehicles and the relevant material are presently with the police. The investigation and verification will determine what happens next and I will have to move court to get back my vehicle as well as its original engine.”The episode has also left Bhagat with a lesson he says he would not want other self-driving vehicle owners to learn the hard way. “Documents should be checked completely while taking back the vehicle…owners need to know exactly who they are handing their vehicles to and should monitor changes to tyres, body parts and other components,” he said.