Crackdown ordered against scrap dealers purchasing stolen vehicle parts

The Karachi police chief Khadim Hussain Rind ordered on Monday a strict action against the scrap and auto parts dealers involved in purchasing stolen vehicles parts.

The additional inspector general (Addl. IG) for Karachi directed the DIGs of East, West and South ranges as well as the Crime Investigation Agency to crackdown against such dealers in their jurisdictions.

A letter sent by the Addl. IG to his subordinates read that it has been observed that scrap and auto parts dealers, knowingly or unknowingly, purchase stolen goods, including metals, electronics, batteries, side view mirrors and other items from vehicles.

Such a trade encourages thieves and drug addicts in stealing vehicles, he wrote, directing the police officers to keep a check on the activities of scrap and auto parts dealers, while warning them to keep from dealing in stolen items and maintain a record of their sales and purchases. The Addl. IG emphasised that inspections of all scrap and auto parts dealers should be carried out from time to time, and legal action be taken if they are found involved in illegal activities.

Officials privy to the matter said that the business of stolen vehicles is becoming bigger with time, and several small criminal groups as well as scrap and auto parts dealers were involved in it. They added that these criminals also had links with officials who made forged registration books and number plates.

They said that major buyers of the vehicles stolen from Karachi were in Sindh’s Larkana, Qambar Shahdadkot and Kashmore districts, and in Balochistan’s Hub, Panjgur and Turbat areas.

They informed that Suzuki, Toyota and Honda vehicles in white, blue and grey colours were hot cakes in the illegal auto market, and Clifton, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, North Nazimabad, Gluberg, Shah Faisal Town, Liaquatabad and New Karachi were the hotspot areas for vehicle theft in the city.

The officials opined that most of the criminals involved in vehicle theft were habitual and had served time in jail previously, while some stole vehicle for their CNG kits. They said that 82 percent of car and 96 percent of motorcycle owners did not secure their vehicles with an additional lock or anti-theft device, which made it easier for the thieves to steal them.