3,100 vehicles stolen in Gurugram during Jan-sept

Gurugram: Vehicle thefts continue to be a major law and order challenges in Gurugram. The matter came to the fore after 17 bikes were stolen in a single day from different parts of the city. Interestingly, the Gurugram police claim that this act may have been carried out by a single gang.

From January till September, there are over 3,100 vehicles that have been stolen in the city. Last year, this figure ranged to 2,600 thefts. There had been over 4,000 cases of vehicle thefts registered in Gurugram in 2016. While in 2015, over 3,000 cases of car thefts were filed by the district police.

Significantly, 60 per cent of these stolen automobiles is not recovered by the District police. One of the major reasons for such a low rate of recovery is that these crimes are committed by gangs from Mewat and outside states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. “Most of the burglars that have been caught by our team belongs to Mewat. However, there have also been gangs from Rajasthan and Delhi, who indulge in vehicle thefts.

Unlike earlier where vehicle thefts used to be carried out by two or three skilled robbers, now there are a group of five to ten robbers who commit the crime,” said a senior police official from Gurugram police.

“Since there are large numbers of robbers from outside areas who indulge in the crime, it has become a challenge for the police to catch hold of them,” he added.

Now, the burglars are not only targeting their victims on the outskirts of the city but also targeting people in posh and densely populated parts of the city.

In July this year, the law enforcement officials arrested members of Satish that claimed to have stolen more than 100 vehicles including SUVS, mostly from Gurugram.

According to police officials, there is a lot of planning that goes by the automobile thieves in their implementation. Based on the planning and information they gather, most of the robbers choose the place, time and even victims to carry out the crime. Being more brazen, the burglars in most of the situations are increasingly stealing vehicles by intimidating the people with guns or sharp objects.

The stolen vehicles are then taken to their areas where robbers make the profit based on the valuations of the vehicle. In certain occasions, the profit earned as low as Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 in selling the vehicular spare parts.