Monday, May 12, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1429    

170 vehicles, 15 bikes stolen from Capital in four months

Islamabad—In all, 170 vehicles and 15 motorbikes were stolen from various areas of the Capital during the current year.
According to the police sources, as many as 140 cars, 30 vehicles and 15 motorbikes were stolen from different areas of the Capital during the current year while there was no proper detail of the recovered vehicles stolen from the capital.
Despite the fact that the desperate owners of stolen vehicles had to go from pillar to post for recovery of the vehicles, there was no considerate response from the capital police.
The target areas for the auto-thieves were mostly Shalimar, Kohsar, Aabpara and Margallah Police Stations.
Most of the people in Pakistan belong to middle class and they purchase a second-hand vehicle after years’ of savings. But it seems that the capital police is least bothered about the recovery of lost vehicles.
The police sources said that police are maintaining the data of those car lifters who had ever remained involved in such incidents.
They said even the data of the routes from where the car jackers pass the stolen vehicles are being identified besides the buyers of these cars.
The owner of a car (IDK-2488), stolen from I-9 police station area, said he had been visiting the police station and the offices of police high ups for the recovery of his car but to no avail.
“The Police officers have a routine exercise of making a phone call to their junior officer at the police station and orders to trace the stolen car. But when I visit the concerned official, he tells me the typical answer that efforts are underway to trace the car lifter,” he said.
It has become a routine matter that after arresting some car jackers, the police usually claims of recovering some cars and dispatch teams for the recovery of other stolen cars on the tip of arrested car lifters.
Newly appointed Inspector General of Police Islamabad Syed Asghar Raza Gardezi, who assumed the charge of his office on May 8, is known as the competent officer of Police Services of Pakistan and it can be hoped that his professionalism would help in curbing the crime effectively including the elimination of car theft incidents.—APP