Car thieves are evolving with times, to the dismay of all of us they are becoming hi-tech. Gone are the times when they would use rudimentary scales, hooks, rods, clubs, cutters and pliers to do their job. If security mechanisms in high-end cars are getting smart, the crooks appear to be one step ahead.

zululandobserver/representational image

Police have found several instances of thieves using diagnostic kits to break open the chip-controlled security of cars. The kits are imported from the UK and primarily used by authorised service stations in analysing faults.

In what has been described as "reverse engineering", thieves are using the kit to disable computer-controlled security and ignition systems to make opening and starting a latest car model as easy as a 10-year-old one. The kit costs around Rs 3.5 lakh. It reads the electronic control module of any car and provides the option of bypassing the security key, which is used to protect the ignition and ancillary security systems integrated with the vehicle by the manufacturer.

Within 10 minutes, a parked Audi, Fortuner, Skoda or a similar high-end car, becomes a toy in the hands of the gang. "With increasing automation and availability of microprocessor-controlled security and ignition systems, stealing high-end cars is becoming difficult. Professional car thieves, however, have found a sophisticated solution to all this," said joint commissioner R P Upadhyay.

driving/representational image

Police came to know about this latest technique when they nabbed a notorious car thief and three of his accomplices following a high-voltage chase in south Delhi's Hauz Khas.

On March 16, police received a tip-off that a key member of the gang run by carjacker Manoj Bakkarwala was coming to the Shahpur Jat area with his men. "A special team, led by ACP Rajender Pathania and SHO Sanjay Sharma, laid a trap. Around 3am, a Maruti 800 was seen coming from August Kranti Marg towards Shahpur Jat village. The team flagged down the car," said Ishwar Singh, DCP (south).

The gangsters' route was blocked by a barricading party. But as the raiding party moved in, the suspects tried to flee. Amid this, one of them turned towards the policemen and opened fire. The team, took cover and constable Irshad, who was leading the chase, returned fire using his service weapon.

Herald Sun/representational image

The accused were overpowered while reloading their weapons. Three pistols and a kit were seized from them. During interrogation, police found that the gang had carefully distributed roles among its members. While one of the accused, Ajay, was the techie who procured the kit, Ravinder Singh and Amit were the getaway drivers. Vinod Kumar, an ex-serviceman, had served in Punjab regiment for six years before taking to the life of crime.

Police have taken the accused on remand for further interrogation and are confident of cracking several cases of vehicle thefts in the coming days.