By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Vehicle lifters in Meghalaya continue to enjoy safe passage leaving the common man and the law-enforcing agencies guessing all the time.
Tall and recurring claims of the law-enforcing agencies of having busted inter-state car theft rackets fall flat if the latest graph of car theft instances is referred to.
As per the police records, 30 vehicle theft cases have been reported from January this year till August 31 in the East Khasi Hills and out of that police managed to recover 12 vehicles from different parts of the city and even from neighbouring states.
Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Thursday, Vivek Syiem, Additional Superintendent of police (crime), said though the number vehicle theft cases have dipped in the last few months, the racket is still active in the city.
Out of the 30 stolen vehicles 13 were two-wheelers.
In the bid to stop stealing of vehicles, the State Government few years back came up with the idea of installing high security registration plates (HSRP), but questions have been raised on its credibility.
Reacting to a query on HSRP, the senior police official said, “criminals are apprehensive of stealing those vehicles which are fitted with HSRPs”.
“The HSRP has slightly helped in reducing the theft,” he said.
It is believed that many of the vehicles which are stolen from the city are taken to other northeastern states like Assam, Manipur and Nagaland.
According to Syiem, “once a vehicle is stolen, the owner should immediately contact the control room with all the details of the vehicle” while adding that people should also secure their vehicles by using different security equipments like steering lock and other equipments.
The State police recently arrested one Phantom alias David Lyngdoh, who is allegedly involved in stealing as many as 13 two-wheelers from the different parts of the state. “We are trying to ascertain if he has any connection with any car theft racket,” Syiem added.
