Cops under pressure to put brakes on rising auto thefts

Sample this, the Millennium City witnesses seven vehicle thefts every day. In a bid to end the menace and recover the stolen vehicles, the Gurgaon police have launched a massive drive to examine car documents and number plates. Leena Dhankhar reports.

Sample this, the Millennium City witnesses seven vehicle thefts every day. In a bid to end the menace and recover the stolen vehicles, the Gurgaon police have launched a massive drive to examine car documents and number plates.

HT Image

Since, Monday, 15 teams of city police have been spread out on all major roads, crossings and borders, keeping a vigil on the movement of every vehicle in the bitter cold.

In a matter of two day, police have confiscated 22 vehicles as their owners failed to produce valid documents of their vehicles.

According to police, in many cases number plates of the vehicles were changed as well.

As many as 2,600 vehicle theft cases have been recovered this year; more than 80% of which are still untraced.

The 15 police teams were deployed at Sushant Lok, DLF City area, MG Road, Civil Lines, Palam Vihar, Sheetla Mata road, Jharsa Chowk, Sector 18, Signature Tower, among other spots.

Though the Gurgaon police have busted four major gangs of thieves this year, a lot still needs to be done considering the sudden spite in theft cases.

According to police, two-wheelers top the charts of stolen vehicles as they are the most popular mode of commute among chain and purse snatchers.

"This drive would be conducted throughout the week. It will help control vehicle theft and snatching cases. Vehicles without proper documents would be impounded," deputy commissioner of police (West) Surinder Pal said.

On Monday, the police checked 410 vehicles in West Zone and issued 112 challans. In most of the cases, vehicle owners did not possess valid documents or were driving without licences.

All station house officers (SHOs) were deployed in their respective areas along with their teams.

"This year, we busted a notorious gang which was involved in many vehicle thefts. We recovered more than 400 two-wheelers from their possession," Pal said.

Residents - though concerned about the rising theft cases - were not very impressed.

"It has been more than five months since my son's bike was stolen, but the police have failed to find the vehicle. I do not have any hope from the police as initially they refused to even register the case," Puja Mehra, resident, Sushant Lok.