Reeling under vehicle shortage, Gurugram cops hobble after criminals in faulty, broken-down vehicles

The Gurugram Police has 208-strong motorbike fleet, comprised mainly of Apache and Bullet. However, it was found that 80 bikes are not working while 10% of these vehicles cannot be used due to the expiry of their lifetime.

Besides being short of personnel on the ground, the city police is also facing a shortage of vehicles for patrolling, transporting inmates and conducting raids.

Police Station at Sector 9A, in Gurugram. The city police are planning to requisition around 200 vehicles to replace their ageing fleet. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

As per the data available, Gurugram Police has 144 police control room (PCR) vehicles, comprised of Maruti Gypsy, Tata Sumo, Bolero and Tavera. However, 70 of these vehicles cannot be used from July, as the lifetime of these vehicles expires.

The Gurugram Police has 208-strong motorbike fleet, comprised mainly of Apache and Bullet. However, it was found that 80 bikes are not working while 10% of these vehicles cannot be used due to the expiry of their lifetime.

The city police are planning to requisition around 200 vehicles to replace the ageing fleet.

“Almost 35-40% of the 208 bikes given to the police are out of use because of one issue or another. Some of these have completed their lifetime while others are lying unused due to technical issues. There is a need to replace the vehicles at the earliest,” said a police officer, on the condition of anonymity.

As far as PCR vehicles are concerned, the city police are looking to replace the 70 vehicles whose lifetime expires by the month-end.

The officer said that as many as 80 bikes are not working while 15 bikes are older than 15 years. Also, 10% of the fleet has completed the time allowed for operations, as per the Motor Vehicles Act.

The police department, at the start of the year, received 60 bikes under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme from a private company.

Senior police officials, admitting a shortage, said that poor upkeep of official vehicles was one of the main reasons that have resulted in problems with clutch plates, gearbox, etc.

Officials took stock of the situation in a recent meeting and are planning to send a request for replacing the unusable vehicles.

“The replacement of vehicles happens from time to time and we have taken a stock of the fleet. A requisition will soon be sent to the headquarters and new vehicles will be procured,” Ravinder Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram Police, said.

Kumar said Gurugram police received around 100 vehicles, including 60 bikes, under CSR from various companies.