Islamabad - The vehicle-lifting has been a long-time problem for the people in the federal capital with the car-lifters stealing hundreds of vehicles every year.
The quickest way to grasp how freely the car-lifters are operating in the capital city is to go through the statistics available on vehicle-lifting. During the last 10 days, 8 cars and 7 bikes were reportedly lifted from different areas of the capital. On April 14, unknown car-lifters took away a corolla car (LOZ-629) from the jurisdiction of Kohsar police station. Same day, another car (ZE-503) was lifted from the precincts of Sabzi Mandi police station while a bike was taken away from the area of Bani Gala police station. On April 13, a corolla GLI (LED-7759) was lifted from the jurisdiction of Margalla police station. On April 12, two vehicles were lifted; bike (AND-599) from Aabpara police station area and a carry van (UY-649) from the area of Barakahu police station.
On April 11, a Mehran car (RIA-1923) was lifted from the area of Margalla police station while a bike (NR-045) was lifted from Shalimar police station area. On April 10, a bike (RIP-3768) was lifted from Sabzi Mandi police station limits while a Mehran car (LED-6880) and a bike (RIL-7225) were lifted from the limits of Lohi Bher police station. On April 7, a carry van (QA-627) was lifted from the limits of Margalla police station. On April 5, a Mehran car (LEC-1003) was lifted from the limits of Kohsar police station followed by a bike (GTK-8736) lifted the very next day. Same day, a bike (RIO-3014) was lifted from the limits of Margalla police station.
According to the data exclusively available with this scribe, during the last six months, the local police registered 361 cases of vehicle theft, averaging 60 vehicle theft cases a month. Seventy-two vehicles were stolen just from the limits of Margalla police station followed by 57 from the Aabpara police station limits. Furthermore, 20 vehicles were stolen from Kohsar, 5 from Secretariat and Bhara Kahu each, 17 from Shalimar, 12 from Golra, 15 from Tarnol, 33 from Ramana, 36 from Industrial Area, 40 from Sabzi Mandi, 1 from Banigala, 12 from Shehzad Town, 3 from Koral, 21 from Lohi Bher and 12 from the limits of Sihala police station, making it 361 in total. During the last 18 months, 1359 cars and 712 motorcycles were lifted from the ICT limits. During the last five years, 1,851 car/motorcycle theft cases were reported in the 18 police stations of the federal capital which speaks a lot about poor police performance in checking the crime.
Meanwhile, Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) of Islamabad police have busted a gang of bike-lifters and recovered four stolen bikes as well as valuables from the possession of three gangsters. On the special directions of Inspector General of police Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan, SP (Investigation) Muhammad Ilyas constituted a special team headed by DSP CIA Basheer Ahmed Noon to arrest those involved in bike-lifting. This team succeeded to nab three bike-lifters, besides recovering four stolen bikes from them. The nabbed persons have been identified as Kamal Uddin, Taj and Arshad who confessed to lift bikes, tamper their engine numbers and sell them in other districts. Further investigation is underway from them and police are hopeful for more recovery from them, claimed a police spokesman here on Wednesday.