RAWALPINDI: A total of 387 cars with an estimated value of Rs580 million and 546 motorcycles valued at around Rs27.3m have been stolen in the Rawalpindi district between Jan 1 and July 31 this year.

In comparison, 322 cars were stolen in the same period in 2018, along with 313 motorcycles.

However, there has been a slight decrease in the number of cars and motorcycles stolen at gunpoint this year compared to 2018.

If the value of a single stolen car is estimated to be Rs1.5 million, this suggests that Rs580m worth of cars have stolen so far this year, along with Rs27.3m worth of motorcycles.

A total of 68 cars were stolen in July, compared to 65 in July last year. In addition, 98 motorcycles were stolen in July compared to 87 motorcycles in 2018.

There was a slight fall in the theft of ‘other vehicles’ in July this year.

A senior police official told Dawn that when vehicle theft suspects are bailed out and appear in court for their trials, they always steal another car while leaving court.

“It is a routine for vehicle thieves,” he claimed, adding that it seemed the police had no strategy to prevent vehicle thefts.

Another police official, who has interrogated several vehicle theft suspects, said that there were hardly any in Punjab in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had not been arrested but they were released by the court because of a lack of witnesses.

He claimed that suspects who were arrested and sent to jail were released due to weak laws and a lack of witnesses.

“Who will testify as a witness that he saw a man stealing a car,” he asked.

He added that police try to prevent vehicle theft suspects from receiving bail by including the non-bailable offence of drug possession in the FIR even though the suspect did not possess drugs at all.

During a high-level meeting last month, the Rawalpindi regional police officer (RPO) said there had been an increase in property crimes and the recovery of stolen property was low.

He told the Punjab police chief that “motorcycle snatching and lifting” were the main challenges, and work is being done on this.

Neither the RPO nor the city police officer (CPO) have revealed any strategies to check the increase in vehicle thefts.

A police spokesperson, when contacted, attributed the rise in crime statistics to the free registration of cases and population growth.

He said the police have been working on reducing the rate of vehicle crimes and the recovery rate of stolen vehicles has been encouraging for the last three months.

He also warned of a crime wave on the eve of Eidul Azha, and asked people to take care of their vehicles and valuables when parking or leaving their homes.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019