Dilip Chhabria is a renowned name in the Indian automotive circle. The man is a famous car designer and runs a company called DC which is now renamed to DC2 Design. You might remember him because of the Avanti – a 2-seater sports car which was launched in India in 2015 and made all the headlines because of its supercar derived looks. The reason why we are talking about the person is, because the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Police has arrested him on Monday, 28 December, in a forgery and cheating case.
More details
He will be produced before the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate on Tuesday, said the police to The Times of India. The crime branch said that there are going to be more arrests made in this case.
Chhabria has modified cars and vanity vans for many celebrations, and according to The Times of India, five of his clients, including an actress has registered the complaint against him. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Milind Bharambe has confirmed the arrest but more results will be divulged as the investigation proceeds. A modified car worth around Rs 75 lakh by DC Designs has been seized by the Mumbai Police, reported PTI.
DC Avanti
Talking about the Avanti now, India’s first homemade sports car was launched at INR 35.93 lakh (ex-showroom Pune). Many of you are already familiar with the Avanti. It isn’t DC’s maiden attempt at building a sports-car though, as there have been other instances in the past; with one concept even featuring in a Bollywood movie. The Avanti featured a carbon-fibre body shell and had a mid-mounted, euro-5 complaint, 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that developed 248 bhp and 340 Nm of torque. DC claimed that car could do a 0-100 kph sprint in 6 seconds and attain an electronically limited top speed of 180 kph.
DC also offered a slew of customization options for the Avanti, which included custom matte finish paint-jobs, carbon fibre inserts for the interiors, an Apple Car Play infotainment system, leather interiors and much more. The Avanti is long gone now and its founder, Dilip Chhabria is going through a tough phase. As soon as more details turn up regarding his arrest, we will get back to you.