KARACHI, Jan 24: Gulshan-i-Iqbal turned out to be a high risk area among the 18 towns in the metropolis as 791 incidents of car snatching were reported in the town between Jan 1 and Dec 31 in 2004.
A total of 3,803 cases of car snatching were reported during the period. Saddar remained the high risk area as far as theft of motorcycles is concerned as 1,239 two wheelers were taken away during the period.
Jamshed town was another high risk area where 538 cars were taken away in 2004, followed by 491 cases in North Nazimabad, 402 cases in Saddar, 358 cases in Clifton, 353 in Gulberg, 194 in Shah Faisal, 156 in Orangi, 121 in New Karachi, 62 in Gadap, 58 in Korangi, 49 in Site, 48 in Landhi and 39 in Keamari.
According to the CPLC, a total of 3,798 cars were taken away, of which 2,300 were recovered in 2004. In 2003, 3,377 cars were taken away and 2,251 were recovered. A total of 157 Suzuki cars were snatched against 44 Toyota, 15 Honda, 15 Charade, six Toyota Hilux, 24 taxi and 47 others.
White colour remained the favourite colour of car snatchers as 116 such cars were taken away. Twenty-four grey, 24 red, 21 blue, 21 green, 18 black and seven yellow cabs were taken away in December.
Wednesday remained the favourite day for car snatchers as 56 vehicles were taken away on Wednesdays, followed by 53 on Thursdays, 43 on Fridays, 41 each on Saturdays and Sundays, 39 on Monday and 35 on Tuesday.
The CPLC data revealed a total of 6,897 bikes were snatched in 2004 and 2,617 were recovered. In 2003, 5,749 bikes were snatched and 2,114 were recovered. A bike assembler said the highest rate of bike snatching has been witnessed in Karachi in the last few years, particularly in the case of Japanese bikes because of their higher resale value.
