The statistics provided by the police headquarters on the vehicle theft cases have made it clear that the general perception of the people that their vehicles are safe if parked in the parking lots, on the roadsides or outside their residences is wrong. Things are really alarming as revealed by the police statistics as close to 250 vehicle lifting cases were reported over just three months between January 1 and March 31 across the State. Haridwar being a popular centre of pilgrimage, three vehicles on an average are being lifted daily while Udham Singh Nagar is not lagging farbehind as 95 vehicle lifting cases were reported from there over the first three months of the year. In Dehradun, the figure is 32 for the same period. As per the statistics, 247 vehicle theft cases were reported over the three- month period in the State. A senior police officer posted in the headquarters said that they are worried as four vehicle lifting cases are being reported daily on an average across the State.
The number of vehicle theft cases in Garhwal division is more than the figure from Kumaon division. While 139 vehicle theft cases have been reported in Garhwal division the figure is 107 in Kumaon division. Police further say that the figures dished out by them is much less than the actual figure as many of vehicle lifting cases go unreported in the mountainous districts of the state. Twelve vehicle theft cases were reported from Nainital district between January 1 and March 31 while the figure is zero from Almora, Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag Bageshwar and Champawat districts. Two vehicle theft cases were reported from Tehri district while one from Chamoli over the first three months of the year.
What is more, the last year’s statistics said that three vehicles were stolen daily on an average across the State. As many as 1081 vehicle theft cases were reported between January 1 and December 31, 2017. While 428 vehicles were reportedly stolen in Haridwar the figures were 168 in Dehradun, 11 in Pauri, three in Rudraprayag, zero in Chamoli, six in Tehri, five in Uttarkashi, 378 in Udham Singh Nagar, five in Champawat, 74 in Nainital and one each in Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts.
Senior cops said that in view of the alarming spike in vehicle lifting cases, the district police chiefs have been directed to take tough measures to stop such thefts in their jurisdictional limits. They have also been directed to conduct vehicle checking drives from time to time at important places to check vehicle thefts. “It is clear that we must be more serious over the matter as it is assuming grim proportions. We are now drafting a detailed plan to effectively check the vehicle stealing menace with focus trained on the most vulnerable places,” said a senior cop.