delhi

Updated: Jan 09, 2017 00:55 IST

If your car is stolen or you have been a victim of snatching, molestation or theft in the national capital, chances of police cracking the case are grim.

According to crime data of 2015 and 2016, which HT analysed, the police track record in solving vehicle thefts and house break-ins is abysmally poor.

“Delhi shares over 100 porous border points with neighbouring states. It is easy to cross the border with stolen vehicles. There is an organised network of car thieves, who sell it in places as far as the northeastern states,” a senior police officer said.

He insisted that the states have to work together and be stringent in checking “outstation” cars.

In the past two years, the city reported 67,251 vehicle thefts. Police recovered only 5,782 vehicles, which is a mere 8.59%. The alarming part is that over 90% cases are pending investigation.

“Barring a few, most border points are unmanned. Also, we have noticed that old vehicles are sold as junk in markets of west Delhi. The vehicles are dismantled in just a few hours and parts are sold separately,” the officer said.

The Capital has private scrapyards at Mayapuri, where an unroganised sector profits from selling parts and metal from dismantled vehicles. This sector has flourished because India doesn’t have a recycling policy for old and unfit cars, creating space for illegal activities such as taking apart stolen cars and bikes.

More than 27,000 theft or burglary cases were reported during the two years and police managed to solve only around 15% cases.

Police solved above 85% of rape cases, but managed only 66% when it came to other crimes against women such as stalking, flashing, voyeurism, and molestation.

Snatching of phones, gold chains, bags, wallets by thugs on bikes is also rampant. But of the 18,516 snatching cases in the two years, only 29.14% have been solved. Police are still looking for three snatchers, who left a 39-year old woman fighting for her life in a south Delhi hospital after she fell off an autorickshaw while trying to protect her handbag inDefence Colony on December 27.

There were around six similar cases on the same 4km stretch involving three people on a black bike between December 21 and January 1. None of the cases have been cracked.

“If 30 cases of snatching are reported every day, it is worrying. We need to be more active but there must also be tougher laws to deal with such crimes such as stricter bail norms, increased punishment,” the senior officer said.

The fear of the law will deter “these youths on motorcycles”, he asserted.