Crackdown: 20 ‘stolen’ vehicles impounded in G-B

A 4-member team from Islamabad is assisting officials in verifying documents.

GILGIT:

A total of 20 vehicles were impounded on Wednesday by the authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) in a crackdown against stolen vehicles. “The vehicles were impounded after verification of their chassis numbers and other documents,” said a police official.

The crackdown was launched jointly by G-B traffic police and excise and taxation department officials.

For the purpose of checking vehicles, a four-member team from Islamabad has also reached Gilgit and will assist local officials in recovering the vehicles stolen from big cities and allegedly transported to G-B, officials said.

An official, Shahid Abbasi, said that the number of stolen vehicles in the country has crossed over 1.8 million. The visiting team had brought with them the documents of the stolen vehicles and the chassis numbers and engine numbers are being checked before taking them into custody, Abbasi added.

“In the ongoing crackdown, only stolen vehicles are impounded and not the non-customs paid (NCP) vehicles,” said an official, adding that the crackdown will be conducted in other parts of the region, including Ghizer, Astore, Diamer, Hunza-Nagar and Skardu valleys as well.

An estimated 10,000 NCP vehicles have been temporarily registered with the traffic police, allotting them separate number plates in blue colour. All NCP and stolen are brought in from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa via Karakoram Highway or Chitral-Ghizer Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2012.