In Allahabad? Fear for your vehicle's safety

ALLAHABAD: With 1,328 vehicles stolen between January 1 and October 31 this year in the district, Allahabad reported the highest number of auto thefts in Prayagraj range, as per police data released on Sunday.


According to the data, Prayagraj range which comprises Allahabad, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh and Kaushambi, registered a total of 1,778 cases of auto theft, 14 times more than cases registered in Banda range (125) which comprises Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Chitrakoot.

The data shows that in the Prayagraj zone—Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Chitrakoot— the minimum number of auto-lifting cases is 25, registered in Hamirpur and Chitrakoot each.

Allahabad city is followed by Pratapgarh which recorded 251 cases of auto-lifting during the 10-month period. Fatehpur stood third with 112 cases followed by Kaushambi (87), Banda (49), and Mahoba (26).

A total of 1,903 cases of auto thefts were registered in Prayagraj zone.

Officials of crime branch said that the entry of new brats foraying into the auto-lifting world has led to the rise in the number of cases in the city. Areas on the city borders have turned into safest hubs for resale of stolen bikes.

At least, 22 such youths fell in police net in Sangam city. All of them belong to well-to-do families and are pursuing professional or degree courses. Most of the youngsters resort to stealing cars to lead a lavish life style.

Between January 1 and October 31, 2018, police arrested over 40 auto-lifters whose names were enrolled in police records or who have been sent behind bars several times on same charges.

SSP (Prayagraj) Satyarth Anirudh Pankaj said, “We have chalked out a fresh strategy to break the networking and modus operandi of auto-lifters. The static points located on border areas, where stolen bikes are being resold on forged documents, have been taken under police scanner”.

He further said, “Police have recently busted three gangs which comprised men who joined after leaving their professions, such as feriwalas and vendors, to cope with their expenses or earn fast bucks.”

Besides, police have formed teams thana-wise to check the rise in the number of auto-lifting cases, he added. During the 10-month period, the city police also recovered 300 stolen vehicles.

The available data indicates that cases of auto-lifting have also gone up in smaller districts of the zone like Fatehpur, Pratapgarh and Kaushambi as compared to previous year. Among the 11 police circles of Allahabad, areas in Colonelagnj, Civil Lines and Georgetown have been categorized as most-prone to auto theft.