Spurt in motor theft cases
These days Deepak Bharti is in a state of shock. Only a few months back, Deepak had invested his hard-earned savings and bought for himself a swanky Hero Honda Hunk. And believe it or not the Hunk has vanished last week. For, Deepak's bike was stolen from the parking slot right in front of his office in Bahadurshah Safar Marg, the Fleet Street of Delhi. If such an experience is a first-time one for Deepak, Praveen Kumar Singh of East Delhi is twice bitten. He has lost two of his vehicles, one scooter and a car, over the past five years.
The Delhi Police may be blowing its own trumpet by publicising its achievements in busting crimes in the city, including Motor Vehicle Theft (MVT), in its house journal. But for citizens such as Deepak or Kumar, life is not going to be the same. They are back to commuting in our over-crowded buses or the Metro, their hopes of travelling on their own dashed by the gang of vehicle lifters who stalk the streets of this capital city without fear.
However ironical it may be, the data provided by the Delhi Police shows a remarkable decrease in the MVT cases in the city. The DP claim recovery of 1,625 vehicles in 2009 while it was 1,258 in 2008. This may not be a mean achievement on the part of the police considering the ever-increasing number of vehicles in the city and its growing borders. But the truth is that at least 11,892 motor vehicles were stolen in 2009, a whopping 20 per cent more than 2008, which stood at 9,949.
Interestingly motor vehicle thieves seem to prefer motorcycles over cars. Among the stolen vehicles, 7.843 were two wheelers, 4,723 cars, 173 trucks, 109 auto-rickshaws, seven buses and 390 other types of vehicles. The police stations most affected were Prashant Vihar with 401 cases, Rohini (302), Saraswati Vihar (238), Malviya Nagar (207), Patel Nagar (174), Anand Vihar (172), Paschim Vihar (171), Shalimar Bagh (169) and Pandav Nagar (163).
On December 6 last, Delhi Police chief YS Dadwal said that police alone couldn't prevent vehicle thefts as there were a huge number of vehicles in the city. "People have to invest some money in this. It is not possible for police alone to prevent such incidents," Dadwal went on record.
A senior official of the Delhi Police says that MVT is a low-risk, but high-profit venture. He further contends that MVT manufacturers by making their products more attractive by paradigm change in vehicle models and costs as well automatically become favourites of lifters. .
These thefts constitute about 15 per cent of all the crimes committed in Delhi. These figures also include scooters and motorcycles. "Our analysis shows that motor vehicle theft is the biggest crime in Delhi and there has been a considerable increase in it," said a senior police officer.
Talking about the factors responsible for vehicle theft, the officer says that non-availability of parking places in residential areas or in front of offices is one of the main factors. Also, he says, indifference of owners and 'Police May Care' attitude, reluctance to spend on installation of security devices, second-hand market in other states plays a major role in absorption of stolen vehicles.
He further points out that re-registration of stolen vehicle in some states without completion of procedural formalities, manual maintenance of records by State Transport Authority in some states led to the vehicle theft, adding that most of the stolen vehicles from Delhi are found disposed off in other states like, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, J&K, North East states and foreign countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, where it is impossible to get them back.
Non-availability of a fixed registration number plate facilitates re-painting in no time, he claims.
About the action taken of MV theft, the officer says that identification of affected places and time zone and proper deployment of staff in these areas are in the process. The department also asks State Transport Authorities not to register second hand vehicles without receiving NOC from the concerned authority.
He says that manufacturers of any type of vehicles are informed to install security devices at the factory/show room. Saying that parking attendants are sensitizing, he asserts that the police department is getting in touch with the insurance agencies and letters are posted to the citizens of the city asking for installing Anti Auto-Theft safety devices.
Police said they keep arresting gangs and the moment they come out on bail, they started committing the crime again.
As Dadwal pointed out at his annual press conference on New Year's Day that a policeman is not a "chowkidar" and people need to be careful about their vehicles; the onus lies on the owner of the vehicle to ensure its safety. It is true that a policeman cannot be deployed at every nook and corner. People need to spend some money on putting proper security locks in their vehicles. When people can spend lakhs on vehicles, they can also afford to spend a few thousands on the security apparatus. But the best bet would be the manufacturers doing so in all earnestness rather than indulging in fancy, meaningless gimmicks they generally tend to come up with.
These days Deepak Bharti is in a state of shock. Only a few months back, Deepak had invested his hard-earned savings and bought for himself a swanky Hero Honda Hunk. And believe it or not the Hunk has vanished last week. For, Deepak's bike was stolen from the parking slot right in front of his office in Bahadurshah Safar Marg, the Fleet Street of Delhi. If such an experience is a first-time one for Deepak, Praveen Kumar Singh of East Delhi is twice bitten. He has lost two of his vehicles, one scooter and a car, over the past five years.
The Delhi Police may be blowing its own trumpet by publicising its achievements in busting crimes in the city, including Motor Vehicle Theft (MVT), in its house journal. But for citizens such as Deepak or Kumar, life is not going to be the same. They are back to commuting in our over-crowded buses or the Metro, their hopes of travelling on their own dashed by the gang of vehicle lifters who stalk the streets of this capital city without fear.
However ironical it may be, the data provided by the Delhi Police shows a remarkable decrease in the MVT cases in the city. The DP claim recovery of 1,625 vehicles in 2009 while it was 1,258 in 2008. This may not be a mean achievement on the part of the police considering the ever-increasing number of vehicles in the city and its growing borders. But the truth is that at least 11,892 motor vehicles were stolen in 2009, a whopping 20 per cent more than 2008, which stood at 9,949.
Interestingly motor vehicle thieves seem to prefer motorcycles over cars. Among the stolen vehicles, 7.843 were two wheelers, 4,723 cars, 173 trucks, 109 auto-rickshaws, seven buses and 390 other types of vehicles. The police stations most affected were Prashant Vihar with 401 cases, Rohini (302), Saraswati Vihar (238), Malviya Nagar (207), Patel Nagar (174), Anand Vihar (172), Paschim Vihar (171), Shalimar Bagh (169) and Pandav Nagar (163).
On December 6 last, Delhi Police chief YS Dadwal said that police alone couldn't prevent vehicle thefts as there were a huge number of vehicles in the city. "People have to invest some money in this. It is not possible for police alone to prevent such incidents," Dadwal went on record.
A senior official of the Delhi Police says that MVT is a low-risk, but high-profit venture. He further contends that MVT manufacturers by making their products more attractive by paradigm change in vehicle models and costs as well automatically become favourites of lifters. .
These thefts constitute about 15 per cent of all the crimes committed in Delhi. These figures also include scooters and motorcycles. "Our analysis shows that motor vehicle theft is the biggest crime in Delhi and there has been a considerable increase in it," said a senior police officer.
Talking about the factors responsible for vehicle theft, the officer says that non-availability of parking places in residential areas or in front of offices is one of the main factors. Also, he says, indifference of owners and 'Police May Care' attitude, reluctance to spend on installation of security devices, second-hand market in other states plays a major role in absorption of stolen vehicles.
He further points out that re-registration of stolen vehicle in some states without completion of procedural formalities, manual maintenance of records by State Transport Authority in some states led to the vehicle theft, adding that most of the stolen vehicles from Delhi are found disposed off in other states like, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, J&K, North East states and foreign countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, where it is impossible to get them back.
Non-availability of a fixed registration number plate facilitates re-painting in no time, he claims.
About the action taken of MV theft, the officer says that identification of affected places and time zone and proper deployment of staff in these areas are in the process. The department also asks State Transport Authorities not to register second hand vehicles without receiving NOC from the concerned authority.
He says that manufacturers of any type of vehicles are informed to install security devices at the factory/show room. Saying that parking attendants are sensitizing, he asserts that the police department is getting in touch with the insurance agencies and letters are posted to the citizens of the city asking for installing Anti Auto-Theft safety devices.
Police said they keep arresting gangs and the moment they come out on bail, they started committing the crime again.
As Dadwal pointed out at his annual press conference on New Year's Day that a policeman is not a "chowkidar" and people need to be careful about their vehicles; the onus lies on the owner of the vehicle to ensure its safety. It is true that a policeman cannot be deployed at every nook and corner. People need to spend some money on putting proper security locks in their vehicles. When people can spend lakhs on vehicles, they can also afford to spend a few thousands on the security apparatus. But the best bet would be the manufacturers doing so in all earnestness rather than indulging in fancy, meaningless gimmicks they generally tend to come up with.
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