Special squad to curb vehicle thefts revived
The special squad to curb motor vehicle thefts formed by former Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone IX) Niket Kaushik, which was disbanded after his promotion, was reactivated after a drastic increase in the number of thefts in the area.
The special squad to curb motor vehicle thefts formed by former Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone IX) Niket Kaushik, which was disbanded after his promotion, was reactivated after a drastic increase in the number of thefts in the area.
The present DCP (zone IX) K.M.M. Prasanna revived the special squad that has 12 members, most of them new, on June 21. They have been selected to deal with motor vehicle gangs.
Many vehicles are stolen from the western suburbs especially Bandra and Khar, said a police official requesting anonymity. Theft of logos of expensive cars such as BMW and Mercedes is creating insecurity amongst vehicle owners.
“In the city maximum cases of vehicle thefts were observed in Zone IX from Bandra till Juhu. To control this, the then DCP had formed a 12-member squad consisting of officials from various police stations in that zone who specialised in cracking such cases. We had recovered more than 82 high end cars and bikes and busted more than 22 persons involved in the crime,” said a police official earlier attached with the special squad.
Another official added that inter-state gangs were carrying out most of the operations and it was becoming difficult for police stations to crack these cases.
“These gangs were specialised and a piecemeal approach was not helping hence a concentrated effort was required. The special squad consisted of members who had specialised knowledge in solving these cases,” added the police official.
The squad initially started in August 2008 and was disbanded in June 2009 after Kaushik was promoted as the additional commissioner of police in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Many of the team members were transferred to police stations outside the jurisdiction due to which the squad was dissolved.
Additional Commissioner of Police (west region) Amitabh Gupta said: “Squads have been formed to deal with crimes that are on a rise like motor vehicle thefts and offences committed by persons posing as police officials.”