manoj

In India, one car is stolen every 8 minutes and nine out of 10 are never recovered

Every eight minutes or so — quicker than it takes to change a flat tyre — a motor vehicle is stolen in the country. Of every 10 vehicles stolen, nearly nine are never recovered and end up getting registered again in another Indian state or union territory.

“Our data tells us that every year around 65,000 vehicles are stolen from all over the country,” reveals an official of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The bureau runs a Motor Vehicle Coordination System (MVCS) that is a database of vehicles stolen and recovered throughout the country. The MVCS caters to the whole of India. It has listed about 6.5 lakh vehicle thefts in the past 15 years. The Zonal Integrated Police network that covers Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana has listed about 1.2 lakh vehicle thefts in less than three years.

“Nearly 90 per cent of the stolen vehicles end up being reregistered as second-hand vehicles at one of the country’s 790 odd regional transport offices,” says Sant Sharma of Stolen Vehicles Trackers, a web-based agency that tracks vehicle thefts in India. “Our figures, compiled from various insurance companies, point to the fact that only six per cent or so of the stolen vehicles are recovered and around the same percentage are dismantled in scrap shops,” adds Sharma. The vehicle theft industry in the country thrives on fake documents and poor coordination among different the police forces in various states. The fact that a vehicle can be registered at 800 different offices in the country makes it an easy job for car lifters, say experts. “A lot of vehicles make their way to Nepal through both UP and Bihar,” they add.

Police officials admit that vehicle thefts are a big challenge and more than just petty thefts. Stolen vehicles often end up being used by terrorists. Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was killed during a fake encounter on Novem ber 22, 2005, too was said to be riding a stolen motorcycle.

The terrorist attack on India’s Parliament on December 13, 2001, or the last big strike by pro-Khalistan militants – the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in August 1995 – are instances of stolen vehicles being used for some of the biggest terrorist strikes in the country.

“Law and order is still a state subject and vehicle thefts are inter-state crimes that thrive on the failure of the state police forces to coordinate among themselves,” says a senior police official.

Missing Vehicles

WHY THE POLICE Fail?

From the time an FIR is registered for a vehicle stolen to the time the data is reflected on the NCRB’s system, it takes anywhere between 15 days to six months.

Some states do not send the complete data at all. By that time, a stolen vehicle invariably gets registered as a genuine second hand purchase.

Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Mumbai Edition)
Date Of Publish: 05-May-07

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ruchi

Intresting article with surprising stats

vikaskumar11233

Hey manoj it was very shocking news and most shocking was the news of not recovering of the vehicle but many new cars are coming with very good safety features in it like anti-locking system and alarm system it the cars how they are stolen so frequently.