‘Nearly 70pc stolen, snatched vehicles recovered this year’

Karachi
In the nine months of 2015, 265 vehicles have been snatched and 1,072 stolen in the city and of these collective 1,337 vehicles, a total of 1,048 have been recovered by the police, particularly the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC).
In all these cases, 1,087 accused have been arrested and 64 inter-provincial gangs involved in vehicle theft have been busted. Similar efforts have also been taken to curb mobile snatching incidents and since the establishment of a dedicated cell two months ago, 200 mobile phones have been tracked and recovered, while 120 more have been handed over to the police by traders at electronic markets.
These figures were shared with members of the media by Additional IGP Karachi Mushtaq Mehar and ACLC SSP Irfan Bahadur at a ceremony held at the Karachi Police Office (KPO) on Friday to hand over the recovered items to their owners.
Hailing the efforts of the ACLC and the entire force, Mehar said that curbing street crimes and snatchings was among the top four objectives of the Karachi operation, and the results achieved so far have been more than encouraging.
As for efforts to bring down mobile snatchings, Mehar spoke of the efficiency of the dedicated cell set up under SSP Bahadur’s command, particularly praising its efforts for compilation of comprehensive records.
The city police chief concluded by stating that of the recovered items, 25 cars, 50 motorcycles and 50 cell phones had already been returned to their owners after due verification. The rest of the items, he added, would be handed over soon after completion of legal formalities.
SSP Bahadur took the opportunity to share advice for citizens regarding vehicle safety, advising people to remain wary during purchase deals by paying particular attention towards ascertaining the veracity of the original registration plates and books and making sure that custom duty amounts have been cleared for all imported vehicles.