ISLAMABAD: It is around 6am and Jawad Bajwa, a sentry on duty, is investigating a drug addict he has caught on the premises of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) in I-11.

It is his routine to capture around half a dozen addicts from the premises of the ACLC on a daily basis.

On first sight, the lot where the ACLC holds recovered cars looks like a junkyard. The ACLC was established in February 2007 to control increasing incidents of the car robbery as well as to take into custody stolen cars across the district and pursue car theft cases in courts.

In 2011, authorities gave charge of the ACLC lot to the Sabzi Mandi police station.

“Although, official duty hours for police personal are eight hours, I perform duty for 12 hours every day. It is also very difficult for one person to look after the parked vehicles as the lot does not even have a boundary wall.”

He said drug addicts steal vehicle parts and sell them to support their addiction, and other people from nearby settlements also take advantage of the lack of a boundary wall and occasionally steal parts.

“Selling vehicle parts is lucrative for them,” said Bajwa.

“I ride a motorbike to work and cannot afford a car. It hurts me to see the condition of these vehicles parked under the open sky,” he added.

According to the police officials, dozens of stolen vehicles recovered by the ACLC and police officials are parked on the premises of almost all police stations but the majority of vehicles are in the custody of the ACLC, Tarnol, Golara, Sabzai Mandi, Shalimar, Bhara Kahu, Shahzad Town, Koshar and the Industrial Area police stations.

According to the officials, some of these cars were stolen, some were impounded for having forged or tampered documents and some were reduced to scrap in accidents.

“It is the responsibility of the police to pursue cases of stolen vehicles in courts by following a procedure but under the law the chief commissioner can order the auction of vehicles after the clearance of such vehicles from court,” they added.

An official at the chief commissioner office told Dawn that hundreds of vehicles were parked in the warehouse of the district administration in Tarlai Union Council but the administration had failed to auction these vehicles.

“The condition of these vehicles is deteriorating with each passing day and such vehicles become useless if concerned authorities fail to auction them as soon as possible,” the official said.

He said the concerned authorities believed that the process of the auction would be useless because people avoided purchasing cars that have been tampered with.

“Though the administration issues a letter to the buyers during the auction, the buyers avoid buying such cars as they cannot register them like other vehicles.”

The official suggested that the government should sell such vehicles to relevant companies which can use the parts to make new vehicles.

The official also alleged that some police officials bring these vehicles into personal use because they were not questioned about the registration.

Sher Mohammad, the Moharrar at ACLC, told Dawn that 115 vehicles were parked on the premises of the cell at the moment.

“Out of the 115 vehicles, the courts have already given its decision regarding 20 vehicles but the district administration is unable to take them into custody due to lack of space in their warehouse in Tarlai.”

Despite repeated attempts, Zulfiqar Haider, the chief commissioner Islamabad, could not be contacted for comments.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2014