Vehicle thefts from 34 hot spots in Gurugram: Police

The majority of cases--1,134-- were reported from Gurugram’s West area, followed by East--1,008, Manesar –458 and South--322, said police

A comprehensive study of vehicle thefts across the city has revealed 34 areas that are frequently targeted by vehicle lifters, police said on Tuesday, adding they had deployed teams in these areas to alert public.

Most people haphazardly parked their vehicle outside their houses, markets, bus stands and illegal parking sites, making them easy targets for vehicle lifters, said police

Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Preet Pal Sangwan said that several crime teams visited the most-frequented vehicle theft spots in Gurugram’s West, East, Manesar and South zones. The hot spots include Udyog Vihar, Palam Vihar, Sector 17/18, Sector 10A, Sector 10A, Sector 5, Civil Lines and Bajghera in West zone, DLF Phase 1, DLF Phase 2, Sector 40, Sector 56, Sushant Lok, Sector 29, Sector 40, Sadar and Sector 53 police station in East zone, Kherki Daula, Sector 37, Bilaspur, Pataudi and Farrukhnagar in Manesar zone, and Sector 65, Badshahpur, Bhondsi and Sohna in South zone.

“We studied the pattern of vehicle thefts in the city and identified locations from where vehicles were stolen in 2022. However, compared to last year, the number of cases is less,” Sangwan said.

According to police records, 2,922 cases of vehicle theft were reported this year between January 1 and December 18 as compared to 3,053 cases in the same period last year. Police said last year 550 cars were traced and this year 622 cases were traced.

“The majority of cases--1,134-- were reported from Gurugram’s West area, followed by East--1,008, Manesar –458 and South--322,” he said.

“Our teams have mapped all areas and most of the spots are in residential areas where security guards are not deployed and there are no CCTV cameras installed,” he said.

Most people haphazardly parked their vehicle outside their houses, markets, bus stands and illegal parking sites, making them easy targets for vehicle lifters, he said, adding vehicles parked along markets such as Sector 15 and Sector 29 and outside shopping malls are also frequently stolen.

“We have asked market associations and residents’ welfare association members to install CCTV cameras,” he said.

Sangwan said most vehicles that were stolen were easily accessible to thieves.

“In some cases, we found that residents had left their keys in the vehicles, making the theft all the easier. In at least 50 cases, occupants forgot to roll up the windows. In most cases, we found that drivers had randomly parked their vehicles to avoid the parking fee,” he said.

Sangwan advised residents to install GPS devices in their vehicles as a safety measure.

The police on Tuesday decided to change the positioning of checkpoints across Gurugram on the basis of the pattern that emerged through mapping over the last few months. Police will also step up checking of vehicles during the day in response to a rise in the number of such cases in the daytime, senior police officers said.