PANAJI, OCT 31: The Goa police on Thursday arrested the owner of a small car manufacturing unit in Bangalore for allegedly cheating potential buyers and dealers to the tune of several crore of rupees.R K Sipani, Managing Director of Sipani Motors Ltd, Bangalore was arrested by a team of Goa police officials. Sipani was convicted in absentia by the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (CDRF) on a complaint filed by one Antonio Vaz.According to the complainant he had booked a car from the company and had paid an advance of Rs 19,000 in 1991. However, when the car was not delivered, Vaz cancelled his booking and demanded his money back. When there was no response from the company, Vaz approached the Forum which directed Sipani to refund the money with an interest of 18 per cent per annum.Despite the Forum's notice, when Sipani did not respond, he was sentenced to three months simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000. The Forum also directed the State police to arrest Sipani and hand him over to the Statejail officials to execute the sentence. Sipani hit the headlines during the early 90s with his small car project. Though the Sipanis tom-tommed their 5-seater fibre glass car as a low-cost alternative to Maruti 800, it did not catch on in the market.
