Auto thieves thrive on police slackness

ALLAHABAD: The city had gained the dubious distinction of safe hub for auto thieves as a total of 851 vehicles were stolen from the city in the past six months (from January to June this year). Shockingly, statistics reveal that three or four vehicles were lifted or stolen every day from the city while police remain mute spectators.
Approximately 1,182 vehicles were stolen from eight districts of Allahabad zone comprising Allahabad, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Mahoba and Hamirpur in past six months.As far as recovery of stolen vehicles is concerned, the police have merely recovered 55 till date.
Be it prime market locations, hospitals or marriage pandals or coaching institutes, auto thieves are targeting every posh and dehat areas of the district. In city areas alone, 516 vehicles were lifted while remaining ones were stolen from dehat pockets. Civil Lines, Colonelganj and Kotwali circles were the prime target areas.
Pratapgarh registered 100 cases, Kaushambi (37), Fatehpur (81), Banda (62), Hamirpur (12), Mahoba (16) and Chitrakoot (23) registered auto theft cases respectively.
Police records reveal that 513 cases were registered in first six months of 2013 (from January to June) in Allahabad district but this year, the figure stood 851. Moreover, the figure in first six months of 2012 stood around 441.
Lure of easy money attracts educated youth of well-off families to dabble into this illegal and thriving business that cops say has an annual turnover of roughly over Rs 30-35 crore.
"Majority of old vehicles were stolen from rural areas while auto thieves target new vehicles in the city," said an official of crime branch.
The key operators have so far managed to hoodwink police dragnet while crime branch had been finding it hard to collect criminal intelligence of young and fresher ones joining the act.
Majority of vehicles are stolen in afternoon. Thieves operate mainly from 8 am to 9 pm.
Senior cops claim that strengthening policing is not the only option. They claim that squads specializing in busting auto-lifters module and network are being assigned the task. However, vehicle owners need to be on their guard. They need to deploy safety measures as a precaution.
"Owners should adopt safety measures and park vehicles at authorized parking slots," says a senior cop.