noida

Updated: Jan 21, 2016 10:53 IST

The police officer who once used to work on reformation of thieves and burglars, fell prey to one of them in Noida. The official car of Inspector General of ITBP, Anand Swaroop, a 1992 batch UP cadre IPS officer, was stolen from in front of his sector 23 Noida residence late last night.

The incident came to light when the Tata Safari SUV, bearing registration number of CH 01 GA 2915 with a VIP hooter and beacon, was found missing on Wednesday morning. Following the incident, a case was registered at Sector 24 police station and barricades were put across the city in search of the car. Swaroop is known for his efforts on reformation of bad characters and criminals.

“The official car of IPS Anand Swaroop was found missing from in front of his residence at Sector 23 area. He had approached Sector 24 police station following which a case was registered under relevant sections of IPC. All the police stations and counterparts of neighbouring states were alerted about the incident. Checking has been intensified across the district. The thieves will be arrested soon,” said Kiran Sivakumar, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

During his service as the senior superintendent of police at Etah district of UP in year 2001, Swaroop tore the history sheets of reformed criminals - 14 in Etah in 2001 and 30 in Firozabad in 2005 - in front of other historysheeters and urged them to help police in patrolling areas along with beat constables. He promoted the bad characters to accompany the beat constables during late night patrols bringing down the crime rate substantially. Later he replicated this move in Bareilly and Kanpur as district police chief. The officer, who is also known for his unorthodox style of policing and no-nonsense approach has been transferred more than 45 times in his 24 years of career so far. He recently shifted to Noida in his private accommodation following his transfer from Mussoorie where he was heading the ITBP academy and was waiting for his allotment of an official accommodation in Delhi.

The news of a VIP car being stolen sent the Noida cops into a tizzy and senior officials rush to the spot for investigation. “Three police teams were constituted to trace the vehicle. The SUV could have been stolen using a duplicate key. During the investigation it was found that the car was delivered after servicing on Tuesday. The service center employees are also under radar. It was a new SUV equipped with a high security number plate and sensor locking system. We have also questioned the security guards of the society but they have failed to monitor any suspicious movement. The CCTV footage is being checked,” said Anup Singh, deputy superintendent of police (circle 2), Noida.

In last 15 days, one car robbery and two attempts of car robbery were reported from the Gautam Budh Nagar district. The police said they have planned to launch an operation against the carjackers and robbers.