First four months: 172 cars, 92 motorcycles stolen in Islamabad

IGP says theft cases have declined compared to last year.

ISLAMABAD: A total of 172 cars and vans and 92 motorcycles were stolen from different areas of the federal capital in the first four months of the year.

According to data collected by The Express Tribune, the police recovered 23 cars and 25 motorcycles which had been stolen between January 1 and April 30.

According to the data, the Margalla Police Station jurisdiction was the most popular hunting ground for auto-thieves, with 44 cars stolen, followed by 39 cars from the Kohsar jurisdiction, 28 from Aabpara, 15 from Ramna, 10 from Lohi Bher, nine each from Industrial Area and Sabzi Mandi, and two each from Koral and Noon.

Similarly, 24 motorcycles were stolen from the Margalla area, 18 from Aabpara, 13 from Sabzi Mandi, and nine motorcycles from Kohsar.

Margalla SHO Malik Bashir said important areas including city district courts in F-8, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, and Centaurus Mall are in the police station’s jurisdiction, and thousands of vehicles were parked outside such venues every day, some of which got stolen. He claimed that an inter-provincial gang of car-lifters was also busted in the area.

Police sources said that two gangs of Punjabi and Afghan-origin carjackers were involved in vehicle theft cases. Their targets were mostly Suzuki vehicles and Toyota sedans.

The Kohsar SHO admitted that theft cases continue to occur, ironically defending the police by stating that the police were busy in maintaining law and order.

Superintendent of Police Special Investigation Unit Cap (retd) Muhammad Ilyas claimed that the police have busted carjackers and the stolen vehicles will be recovered soon.

Inspector General of Police Tahir Alam Khan claimed that theft cases have declined over the last few months. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the IGP said a total of 306 vehicles were stolen in the first four months of last year, while the figures for this year were lower.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2015.