Thieves break into four car showrooms in Hyderabad

Cops suspect robbery occurred in only one; form special investigation team to probe other

HYDERABAD:

Thieves broke into four car showrooms in Qasimabad and stole two vehicles, cash and car documents from two of the showrooms in a first of its kind crime incident in Hyderabad. The alleged theft occurred in the wee hours of Sunday on Wadhu Wah Road, which houses the largest used car market in the city.

However, the police are suspicious that the theft actually occurred in only one of the shops as the other shop has nominated three persons, with whom the showroom was already locked in a financial dispute, in their initial police complaint.

MM Motors of Mansha Hussain Burdi lost two cars, a Toyota Corolla 2017 model and an unregistered Suzuki Cultus 2020 model, in the theft. Meanwhile, Najaf Motors, located on the opposite road, claimed that they were deprived of Rs3.75 million cash, car documents and a cheque.

The former is located in the limits of Qasimabad Police Station and the latter in the limits of Bhitai Nagar Police Station - both sides of the same road fall in separate jurisdictions.

Babur Sahito of Najaf Motors has named Aashiq Shahani, Mashooq Shahani and Ghulam Abbas Mangnejo as suspects. He sold a car to the suspects on August 8, 2020, for the price of Rs3.35 million. But he was paid only Rs500,000.

The party defaulted payment of Rs2.85 million. Sahito had already brought the matter to the police before the incident occurred. According to him, only the documents pertaining to the above deal were stolen from his showroom besides the cash.

SSP Hyderabad Abdul Salam Shaikh told The Express Tribune that none of the showrooms in the area were able to provide any CCTV footage.

The banks in the locality were closed as it was Sunday. "Owner of another shop equipped with CCTV cameras told that they had switched off the system before closing the shop at night." The thieves allegedly took away the CCTV system of Najaf Motors. There was no watchman in the area either.

"For now we are only relying on the police intelligence for the investigation." The SSP informed that a forensic team from Karachi has collected the fingerprints.

The SSP has formed a special investigation team, headed by Headquarters SP Aneel Haider, to specifically probe the alleged theft at Najaf Motors only. The investigation team has been tasked with submitting their report within five days.

The showroom owners staged a protest and blocked Wadhu Wah Road for traffic for over an hour. Pakistan Peoples Party MNA, elected from a Hyderabad constituency, Syed Tariq Shah Jamote, Additional Inspector-General of Police Dr Jamil Ahmed, and the SSP reached out to the car traders and assured them of their all out help.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2021.