Motorcycle snatching up by 100% from last year

Carjacking, theft also on the rise in the metropolis

KARACHI:

Incidents of motorcycle snatching have increased by 100 per cent and motorcycle theft by 50 per cent during the seven months of 2021 as compared to the same time period last year, according to the records maintained by the Karachi Police.

In the past seven months there were 2,542 incidents of motorcycle snatchings reported from various areas of the city against 1,252 in the similar period of 2020, stated officials of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), sharing details available on the Karachi Police’s website.

The daily average of motorcycle snatching was 12 during the period under review as compared with six in the similar period of last year.

During the first seven months of this year, more than 27,000 motorcycles were stolen from different parts of the city, averaging 129 per day.

In the first seven months of 2020, there were 18,000 incidents of motorcycle theft with an average of 85 per day.

In the first seven months of 2021, robbers snatched 126 vehicles from the citizens, whereas in the same time period of 2020, there were 110 incidents of carjacking reported to the police.

In the first seven months of 2020, thieves drove off with 830 vehicles stolen and in 2021, about 946 vehicles were stolen.

According to CPLC sources, the loud claims of city police’s Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell (AVLC) do not match ground realities. The city has seen a significant increase in motorcycle and car theft, they maintained.

This year, 3,649 motorcycles were stolen in January, 3,369 in February, 3,898 in March, 4,129 in April, 3,995 in May, 4,248 in June and about 3,880 in July.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2021.