Alarming rise in car theft cases

With an alarming rise in cases of vehicle theft in the city, between January 1 and April 15 105 motor vehicles were reported stolen on an average across the city every day. As many as 11,116 motor vehicles were reported stolen between January 1 and April 15 this year, as compared to a little less then 8,000 during the corresponding period in 2015, according to police records. Of the cases reported till April 15 this year, the highest pertained to the eastern range (3,117) of the city, followed by northern (2,452) and southwestern (2,383) ranges.

The data, compiled since 2001 (when around 22 motor vehicles were reported stolen per day on average), shows that the graph never reached that high. In 2015, around 90 such cases per day were reported.

However, the rate of recovery of stolen motor vehicle remains a little less than 5 per cent, a rate more or less constant in the past 15 years. Last year, the Delhi police had launched an e-FIR system for motor vehicle theft cases. Under this system, an e-police station investigates all such cases and provides the complainant with a vehicle untraced report, necessary for an insurance claim.

This system has made things convenient for both complainants and the police. Technically, local police do not tackle such cases and recoveries happen mostly by operations of special staff of police districts, who focus on tracking gangs operating in and around their areas, a senior official said.

In a crackdown against auto-lifters operating in the city, the Delhi police claimed to have unearthed at least 15 active gangs between April 1 and 20 and recovered over 110 motor vehicles. “The rate at which trained auto-lifters can dismantle motor vehicles is surprising. The parts are later sold off either in the black market or as scrap. Meerut and Muzaffarnagar have turned out to be thriving markets in this regard,” the official said.