Mamunur Rashid :
On an average about 100 private cars, motorcycles and auto-rickshaws are stolen from different parking areas every month and police can recover only 50 percent of them, said a high official of the detective branch (DB) of police.
The official, preferring anonymity, told The New Nation on Friday that the stolen vehicles include both the new and old ones, which are cannibalized for their parts.
According to him, most of the stolen vehicles are quickly driven out of Dhaka city and are dumped in Jessore, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong and Sylhet districts.
After preparing false documents, the stolen vehicles are used for carrying
smuggled goods and sometimes put on hire, he added.
About the bail from courts, a car-lifter said, they are always in touch with lawyers at lower courts. They secure bail for the accused.
“When any member of car-lifting syndicate is held by law enforcers for an offence, the lawyers move the bail petition in the courts, however, charging exorbitant fees,” he said.
Sources in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said, a total of 898 different categorised of motorised vehicles were stolen from the capital last year (2013).
It is horrifying that as per police records, about 2,094 car hijacking incidents took place in last three years and of them 693 vehicles were recovered and 1,397 suspects were arrested, police said.
At least 7,241 motorbikes were stolen or snatched in last three years and the police could recover only ten percent of them. But the actual figure of car and motorbike hijacking incidents is much more higher as most of the incidents do not get reported, police said. Unless criminals escape with the vehicles, owners do not bother to inform police of the matter even if they suffer injuries.
The incident of car hijacking in the capital is on the rise despite law enforcers’ strict routine vigilance. It is because of the loophole of the law. “Most of the accused return to the same offence after coming out from jail on bail,” a senior DMP official told The New Nation.
In many cases, the accused go unpunished as the complainant loses interest in pursuing his or her pending case till the delivery of judgment following the recovery of his or her stolen vehicle, said the official.
The members of the Detective Branch (DB) of DMP recovered 468 vehicles and arrested 899 people, including accused mentioned in FIRs (First Information Reports).
When contacted, a senior police official said, the incidents of injury during carjacking are declining though car lifting from parking areas is on the rise. In most cases, the car lifters themselves drive the vehicles and run away.
Talking to The New Nation, a ringleader of car lifters, requesting anonymity, said his accomplices usually wait till the targeted driver comes leaves his vehicle after parking.
Parking areas of Uttara, Gulshan, Banani, Mirpur, Dhanmondi, High Court, Judge Court in Old Dhaka, Shishu Park, Pangu Hospital and Birdem Hospital are safe havens for the carjackers, he added.
On an average about 100 private cars, motorcycles and auto-rickshaws are stolen from different parking areas every month and police can recover only 50 percent of them, said a high official of the detective branch (DB) of police.
The official, preferring anonymity, told The New Nation on Friday that the stolen vehicles include both the new and old ones, which are cannibalized for their parts.
According to him, most of the stolen vehicles are quickly driven out of Dhaka city and are dumped in Jessore, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong and Sylhet districts.
After preparing false documents, the stolen vehicles are used for carrying
smuggled goods and sometimes put on hire, he added.
About the bail from courts, a car-lifter said, they are always in touch with lawyers at lower courts. They secure bail for the accused.
“When any member of car-lifting syndicate is held by law enforcers for an offence, the lawyers move the bail petition in the courts, however, charging exorbitant fees,” he said.
Sources in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said, a total of 898 different categorised of motorised vehicles were stolen from the capital last year (2013).
It is horrifying that as per police records, about 2,094 car hijacking incidents took place in last three years and of them 693 vehicles were recovered and 1,397 suspects were arrested, police said.
At least 7,241 motorbikes were stolen or snatched in last three years and the police could recover only ten percent of them. But the actual figure of car and motorbike hijacking incidents is much more higher as most of the incidents do not get reported, police said. Unless criminals escape with the vehicles, owners do not bother to inform police of the matter even if they suffer injuries.
The incident of car hijacking in the capital is on the rise despite law enforcers’ strict routine vigilance. It is because of the loophole of the law. “Most of the accused return to the same offence after coming out from jail on bail,” a senior DMP official told The New Nation.
In many cases, the accused go unpunished as the complainant loses interest in pursuing his or her pending case till the delivery of judgment following the recovery of his or her stolen vehicle, said the official.
The members of the Detective Branch (DB) of DMP recovered 468 vehicles and arrested 899 people, including accused mentioned in FIRs (First Information Reports).
When contacted, a senior police official said, the incidents of injury during carjacking are declining though car lifting from parking areas is on the rise. In most cases, the car lifters themselves drive the vehicles and run away.
Talking to The New Nation, a ringleader of car lifters, requesting anonymity, said his accomplices usually wait till the targeted driver comes leaves his vehicle after parking.
Parking areas of Uttara, Gulshan, Banani, Mirpur, Dhanmondi, High Court, Judge Court in Old Dhaka, Shishu Park, Pangu Hospital and Birdem Hospital are safe havens for the carjackers, he added.
