Car snatchers ruled the roost in the heavily guarded capital as they snatched or stole 714 vehicles, including motorcycles, from various areas during the last 11 months, belying the tall claim of police high-ups that they had made effective planning to curb the growing car lifting in the metropolis.
The carjackers stole most of the vehicles from the limits of police stations located in the urban areas of the city despite a large number of police pickets and regular patrolling, which raised many questions over the police performance. The jurisdiction of six police stations –Margalla , Shalimar, I-9, Kohsar, Aabpara and Sabzi Mandi – always remain on the top in car lifting incidents as compared to the other police stations.
During the last 11 months of the current year, 145 vehicles were stolen from the limits of Margalla police station, 137 from Shalimar, 94 from Industrial Area, 83 from Kohsar, 72 from the limits of Sabzi Mandi police station, 43 from the limits of Shehazad Town, 32 from Aabparaa, 29 from Koral, 24 from Ramna police station, 18 from Tarnol, 11 from Sihala, 11 from the limits of Golra, 10 from Barakahu and eight from Secretariat police station, a police source told Pakistan Today. The source said several organised car lifting gangs were operating in the city, but the city police had failed to bust them.
He disclosed that car lifters had also invented a device which could jam tracking system in vehicles. The rising car lifting would be controlled when the Islamabad police appointed sincere and competent police officials at Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) and equipped them with modern technology, he said.
The source said that the stolen vehicles were either being resold to innocent buyers or used in illegal and criminal activities. The stolen vehicles were mostly used to facilitate heinous crimes like murders, robberies, dacoities, kidnappings and drug trafficking. A police spokesman said that Islamabad Anti-Car lifting Cell had recovered about 30 stolen vehicles from various cities of the country within one month. These vehicles were kept in many police stations. Around 18 vehicles had been shifted to Islamabad, while the remaining would be shifted soon, he added.
