E-Paper
Vehicle thefts in Pune on the rise after lockdown
On Monday, five two wheelers were stolen on a single day along with a four-wheeler. On an average four vehicles are being stolen from city on a daily basis during the month of June.
After the lifting of the lockdown in the city, as many as 37 vehicles have been stolen from different parts of the city during the past one week.
On Monday, five two wheelers were stolen on a single day along with a four-wheeler. On an average four vehicles are being stolen from city on a daily basis during the month of June.
During last June as many as 342 vehicles comprising of two and four wheelers were stolen from different parts of the city until June 20, 2020. In comparison with the previous year, as many as 611 vehicles have been stolen until June 20. In May, as many as 530 vehicles were reported stolen by the city police.
During the last 21 days, as many as 81 vehicles were stolen from different places in Pune. During last year, there were strict restrictions in place due to lockdown and police presence and yet 975 vehicles were stolen. Of them 870 were two wheelers, 77 four wheelers and 28 three wheelers. Of them, 330 vehicles have been traced and seized.
The past police commissioner K Venkatesham had disbanded some anti vehicle theft units while the incumbent CP has recommissioned two units for tackling robberies and vehicle thefts. Despite the dedicated units, there has been increase in the number of vehicle thefts.
Last Friday, three masked broke open the shutter locks of a two-wheeler showroom at Lullanagar and stole cash ₹2 lakh, four helmets and a new high-end motorcycle, collectively worth ₹4.93lakh.
The showroom owner, Chirag Mutha (28) from Salisbury Park had registered an FIR with the Wanowrie police and stated that he had locked the showroom on Thursday at around 7pm. The images of three accused wearing face covers breaking open the shutter locks have been recorded in the CCTV camera and the investigation is on in the case.
In Feb, the crime branch had nabbed a a wrestler and three others for ‘bike thefts. They had been accused of stealing 20 two-wheelers of one particular as they have found its lock easy to break and had become used to the easy theft.
According to the crime branch, the special squad called ‘Anti- Vehicle Theft Squad’ to solve the cases of vehicle theft is regularly detecting the cases. The Anti-vehicle theft squad had uncovered a number of complex crimes before and even stolen vehicles which came from other states. The Anti-vehicle theft squad was required again due to the increase in vehicle theft cases.
The vehicle anti-theft department was instituted in 2015 the objective to curb the rising number of vehicle thefts, but it was defunct from 2019- 2020. Currently, Pune witnesses vehicle thefts averaging from 1,000 to 1,500 annually and of which half of them are recovered by the crime branch during the year as a standard practice.
Police officials in their submissions before their seniors had expressed the need for a team with the necessary expertise and know-how about the vehicle theft cases which will help to detect more cases and bring down the vehicle theft crime in the city. Accordingly, dedicates units of anti-vehicle thefts were commissioned.
