LAHORE, Aug 3: It is an uphill task for owners to get back vehicles that are stolen and then recovered by police.

The anti-car lifting squad in Lahore and the police investigation wing or the CIA staff elsewhere in the province are widely blamed for not handing over the recovered vehicles to the owners. Instead, they complicate the cases especially for those who are reluctant to fulfil their demands.

When the police recover a four-wheeler, they send an official to inform its owner about the recovery with a hint that without paying a handsome amount of money he may not get his vehicle.

The owner of a recovered vehicle visits the investigation centre or the CIA staff concerned with a view that he will get back his car by providing the particulars of the vehicle and giving a few thousand rupees to the officer concerned as reward for his efficiency. However, even after giving minute details about his vehicle, he fails to take possession.

A woman who works for a local English daily told this reporter that her car, which had been stolen in 1996, was recovered by the anti-car lifting squad a couple of months ago.

She said an ASI who came to her house with the information told her that she could avoid all complications by paying him Rs30,000.

Without paying heed to him, she approached the DPO who directed her to meet an officer in the anti-car lifting squad for easy recovery of her car.

“After identifying my car, I was asked by the officer concerned to give minute details, including some related to interior of the car, which I correctly mentioned. But the officer, who was adamant to dismiss my claim, pointed out that the car could not be handed over to me as its chassis number had been tempered with.

“Only after pursuing the case for over five weeks and getting the IGP intervene in the matter, I was able to get my car,” she said.

Similarly, a retired army officer has been unsuccessfully trying to get back his stolen car from the anti-car lifting squad for the last one year.

These are only two of several people who have been through the ordeal of getting back their recovered vehicles from police custody.

Many of the recovered vehicles are in use of police officials especially the SHOs. It is all the more difficult to get back the recovered vehicles if these are being used by police officials, according to some of the affected people.

The anti-car lifting officials, however, claim that if the chassis number of a stolen vehicle is not tempered with, it is handed over to its owner without delay. But a vehicle cannot be handed over to a person on a mere claim, they maintain.

SSP (Investigation) Chaudhry Shafqat said that a stolen vehicle was handed over to its owner within seven days of its recovery. He said he had not received even a single complaint during his five-and-a-half month stay in the office.

Over 5,000 vehicles were stolen across the province in 2002 which shows that there are a number of car-snatching/lifting gangs.

Of them, 2,048 were snatched or stolen from Lahore, 283 from Kasur, Okara and Shiekhupura, 601 from Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Narowal, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin, 686 from Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal, 205 from Sargodha, Khushab, Bhakkar and Mianwali, 608 from Faisalabad, 766 from Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Lodhran, Multan, Vehari and Khanewal and 450 from Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan.

Over 40 per cent of the cars were taken away from Lahore, where a specialized anti-car lifting squad had been established to control the crime. Elsewhere, district investigation wings or CIA staff are said to be too ill-equipped to check car theft.

During last six months, 1,230 cars and motorcycles were stolen from different parts of Lahore. Some 18 snatchers and 22 thieves had been arrested by the anti-car lifting squad till June. The squad is reportedly short of vehicles and manpower required to hunt down criminals. It has only four vehicles and a limited number of staffers.

The SSP for investigation said that he was not satisfied with the performance of anti-car lifting squad. He said this wing should at least have a separate SP and four DSPs besides a large number of vehicles for effective patrolling. He said the police strength was being increased at all entry and exit points of the city to check stolen vehicles’ movement.

The robbers reportedly take away most of the stolen vehicles to the NWFP or tribal areas for sale. Most of the stolen vehicles are 1000CC or above.

Over 250 cars have been rusting away on the premises of Qila Gujjar Singh police station for the last several years, where a number of police offices, including that of the anti-car lifting squad, are located.

The SSP, however, claimed that these vehicles had been tempered with (cut and weld). Therefore, their owners could not be traced. He said that the department was planning to auction the cars after advertisement in newspapers in the near future. — Zulqernain Tahir