KARACHI: 165 recovered vehicles handed over to owners
KARACHI, Oct 14: The inspector-general of the Sindh police handed over 110 recovered cars and 55 motorcycles to their owners at a ceremony held here on Monday.
IG Syed Kamal Shah handed over the keys of the cars and the motorcycles, recovered by the Anti-car Lifting Cell with the help of the CPLC, to their owners.
“We have planned to hold such functions every month,” he announced.
He said from Jan to Sept this year a steady decline had been observed in the hijacking/theft of four-wheelers.
In this period 1,229 (47 per cent) cars and other four-wheelers were hijacked and 1,438 (53pc) were stolen. Of these, 1,363 cars and other four- wheelers had been recovered. The overall monthly recovery rate was 51pc, the IG said. On an average 151 cars were recovered every month.
Mr Shah said when compared with figures in the same period of last year, it showed a decline of 15pc for four-wheelers.
About recovery position from outside Karachi, he informed that 42 vehicles had been recovered from the interior of Sindh, 15 from Balochistan, 25 from Punjab and four from the NWFP.
In the same period 1,690 (41pc) motorcycles were hijacked and 2,443 (59pc) were stolen. Of these, 1,288 motorcycles have been recovered.
He said the average monthly recovery rate for motorcycles was at 11pc. On an average 143 motorcycles were recovered every month.
The IG said when compared with the same period of the last year, it showed a little average increase for motorcycles: 1.2pc.
Speaking about the arrest of criminals, Mr Shah informed that from Jan to Sept, 474 criminals involved in vehicle theft, hijacking and related crimes had been arrested.
He said through the arrest of these criminals 431 cases of vehicle theft had been detected. Of these, 296 were arrested red-handed.
During this period, he said, action was also taken against five corrupt policemen. One constable and one ASI were dismissed from service. One ASI was demoted. One ASI and one SI were arrested and challaned.
Besides, he said, criminal cases were registered against 13 excise officials, and 763 cases of duplicate registration of vehicles were referred to the excise department for verification.
The IG said the major cause of vehicle theft and hijacking was that it was easy to sell, buy and own a stolen vehicle due to the “Open Transfer Letter” practice among people.
The other major cause was the lack of availability of data on registered and stolen vehicles at the national level as all provinces had not computerized vehicle records.
All provinces have not standardized the vehicle registration plate and book. This allows registration of stolen vehicles with motor vehicle registration authorities anywhere in the country, which makes recovery of stolen vehicles very difficult.
Another major cause of vehicle theft was that people did not secure their vehicles with additional lock or anti-theft device. An ACLC survey for July- September revealed people’s attitude as:
- Non-use of anti-theft device/lock by cars owners: 92pc.
-Non-use of anti-theft device/lock by motorcycles owners: 96pc.
He said in order to check vehicle theft and hijacking people should note the following things before buying a used car/motorcycle.
a) The original registration book and plate.
b) The genuine seller. The seller should have the vehicle in his own name and not on “Open Transfer Letter,” which has no legal value.
The new owners, he said, should also immediately get vehicles transferred in their own name within 30 days as needed under the law.
He said vehicle-owners should use additional lock and/or anti-vehicle theft device. It would bring down vehicle theft by more than 50pc.
Sand blasting of engine and chassis number on front and rear wind screens was also highly recommended, he said, adding that vehicle tracking and recovery systems were also available in the market.
Earlier, CPLC chief Jamil Yusuf spoke at the ceremony and said although there had been an increase in theft and hijacking of vehicles, recovery had also simultaneously improved.—APP
