In a crackdown against the motorcycle-rickshaws, better known as Qingqi rickshaws, the Karachi police have recovered a number of snatched or stolen two-wheelers in a drive against the owners of such vehicles, investigation revealed.
On December 11, 2012, Pakistan Today had carried a story under the headline “one man’s bike, another man’s rickshaw,” which had exposed that the stolen motorcycles were being used to manufacture motorcycle-rickshaws which was becoming a cheap and popular mode of transport for commuters in the city.
Banning the plying of motorcycle-rickshaws across the province on August 05, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had directed the provincial and the city authorities, including traffic police, to ensure immediate legal action against the illegal vehicles.
It has been revealed that high ranking officials from major political parties are involved in this crime and are operating transport businesses unhindered. In most cases, there is no license plate on these vehicles while law enforcers do not bother to check the documents of such rickshaws which are a modified form of the two-wheeler ride.
When the provincial home department had imposed Section 144 in the metropolis, enhancing patrols and snap checks on motorcycle owners, these motorcycle rickshaws remained outside the authorities’ scrutiny. This negligence on the part of law enforcement agencies is resulting in residents being continuously deprived of their motorcycles while more of these rickshaws are appearing on roads with each passing day.
This perhaps implies a positive correlation between motorcycle theft and the rise of motorcycle-rickshaws on various routes in the city. Investigation further revealed that more than 30,000 motorcycle rickshaws were operating in the city and a striking 50 percent of the motorcycles used in manufacturing this kind of rickshaws were obtained illegally. There is no official record of the number of such rickshaws plying on city roads.
The investigation has revealed that there are two types of motorcycle rickshaws found in the city- one which is completely manufactured by a particular company and the other in which the owner of the rickshaw provides a two-wheeler to any of the companies which attach a carriage to that specific motorcycle.
“Most of the motorcycle rickshaw operators use stolen bikes to run this high revenue generating business,” a contractor operating on one route in the city told Pakistan Today. The contractor, who wished not to be named, said a stolen motorcycle was available at Rs 15,000 in the market while the original cost ranged between Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. “We usually purchase stolen motorcycles and get the body attached to it,” he added.
Karachi Motorcycle-Rickshaw Association President Shahid while talking to this scribe said that most of the two-wheelers used in the motorcycle-rickshaws were either stolen or snatched. He claimed that he had given deadlines repeatedly to these rickshaw route operators to submit complete documents of their vehicles because they had confirm reports that some people use snatched or stolen motorcycles in manufacturing of these rickshaws.
He alleged that the law enforcement agencies either turn a blind eye to the issue because of involvement of political parties or were in oblivion over this activity. “We are just an association and not a law enforcement authority. We cannot bring such criminals behind bars but we have the authority to cancel routes of those involved in this illegal activity,” said Shahid.
The newly-appointed Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi, Mushtaq Mehar, has confirmed that they have retrieved a number of two-wheelers in a drive against motorcycle-rickshaws. He said the recovered vehicles had been handed over to their real owners.
When he was asked about the number of stolen/snatched vehicles in this drive, he said he was unable to confirm the exact number, but claimed that there were many motorcycles which police had retrieved in the past few days.
