KARACHI: Vehicle theft reaches record high in city
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Oct 7: The July revamp of the city’s policing methods appears to have had little effect on vehicle theft since a record number of cars and motorcycles are reported to have been stolen in September.
Official statistics show that the number of stolen or snatched vehicles reached 1,756 last month, compared to 1,160 during the corresponding period in 2006.
The statistical breakdown shows that on the average, 40 motorcycles and 18 cars were taken away on a daily basis last month. People belonging to middle income groups were worst hit since an unprecedented 1,203 motorcycles were either snatched or stolen from across the city, compared to 553 cars.
The recently-launched Muhafiz force, which is supposed to patrol the city round the clock, also appears to have failed to act as a deterrent.
Requesting anonymity, a law enforcement official commented that “the people involved in vehicle theft are having a field day these days.
The situation has worsened after the decentralisation of the now-defunct Anti Car Lifting Cell.”
The cell has been renamed the Anti Car Lifting Unit but its powers and strength have been significantly clipped. The task of investigating crimes relating to vehicular theft in each area has instead been entrusted to the relevant police station.
According to the police official, the station house officers tend to not concern themselves with rising incidents of this nature since they have “other matters of importance and political in nature to attend to in order to secure postings.”
Nearly zero investigation
As a result, investigations into vehicular crime are almost at zero, maintained a source. No analysis of crime patterns are carried out, such as whether a vehicle was stolen or snatched in order to obtain its CNG kit or for transportation to Balochistan. Relating a recent example indicative of the effectiveness of current policing levels, a senior official of a law-enforcement agency told Dawn that a person known to him lost his motorcycle from outside a mosque in New Town a few days ago. When he went to the police station to lodge an FIR, he noticed that his vehicle was parked inside the station. Upon inquiry, he was told that the motorcycle had been found after being abandoned.
Another senior police official told Dawn on the condition of anonymity about reports that police stations are fleecing complainants desirous of registering a vehicle crime FIR.
In some cases, bribes are demanded for the registration of the FIR and the issuance of the final report that is a prerequisite to claim car insurance, he said.
Alarmed at the situation that existed even before last month’s high, the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) sent a letter to the provincial police officer (PPO) Ziaul Hasan Khan in the first week of September, expressing concern over rising levels of vehicular theft.
The SOS attributed the crime surge to the decentralisation of the ACLC, which was described in the letter as a specialised unit.
It also drew the Sindh police chief’s attention towards reports of malpractices at the level of the police station concerning the registration of FIRs and subsequent investigations in vehicular theft.
The CPLC chief Sharifuddin Memon pointed out that crime levels always rose during Ramazan but the recent surge in vehicular theft is facilitated by the decentralisation of the ACLC.
