On Trail Of Car Thieves

Driving away the cars without the drivers’ knowledge has become passé, as thieves have begun to resort to unique ways to do a ‘clean job’, say police. Veerakumar (26) from Oddanchatram in Dindigul, and Dhamodharan (22), from Bengaluru, who were arrested by Tirumangalam police last month, worked under the guise of call taxi drivers to steal cars.

They befriended fellow drivers to earn their trust, created duplicate keys for their cars and drove them away, while their friends were unsuspecting. 

In yet another method, thieves impersonating cab operators approach car owners promising regular revenue if the vehicle was leased to them. “They deceive the car owners by paying around Rs 20,000 on the spot and take the vehicle away, along with the original documents. Later, they would pledge the vehicle for Rs 2 to 3 lakh and escape with the cash,” said Inspector Thangaraj attached to KK Nagar police station.  Last week, a team led by him nabbed a car stealer, Abdul Hamid (44) from Tirunelveli district and retrieved six cars from him.

Police officials blame finance companies too, for making it easier for car thieves. “They auction cars that are seized for loan default, without any records and merely issue a No-Objection certificate. Thieves use this method and pledge the stolen vehicles with a fake NOC, claiming it was a seized car. If finance companies stop auctioning of cars without documents, it will close a major window for car stealers,” said Arul Raj, Sub Inspector, KK Nagar police station. Brokers also use the documents of the scrapped vehicles, to register ownership in a complicated manner and re-sell the stolen cars in the market. “These vehicles often escape the police eyes, as they do not have the time to scan through the documents to check if the minute details have been tampered with,” he added. 

According to Thangaraj, “Most of the stolen cars are sold in Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and Kerala. One of the stolen Tavera cars that was retrieved recently had its entire interiors re-worked at a cost of nearly Rs 3 lakh,” he said. Another police official said Vellore comes second after Tirunelveli in terms of highest number of stolen cars being used. “Most of the stolen Tavera cars are used by red sanders smugglers in Andhra Pradesh. A stolen, one-year-old Indica car is sold for Rs 60,000 to 70,000 in the black market,” he claimed.

According to police officials, the three different seizures effected recently, are only a tip of the iceberg. “We have got instructions to curb the increasing car thefts in the city,” said a city police inspector on condition of anonymity. However, tracing the thieves has become increasingly difficult, as car thieves have switched to conventional methods of communication. “They are avoiding mobile phones, as they can be tracked by police. Even if we seize mobile phones from the thieves, getting the details of the phone numbers recorded in them is not easy, as network providers take time to respond, citing flooding of such requests from across the country. It becomes difficult for cops to trace the network of stealers, but we have been devising new ways to prevent cars being stolen,” said another police official. 

Currently, there are about 200 car thieves and 50 brokers operating in Chennai. They meet at specific locations to discuss the deals. 

Inspector Periyapandian attached to Aminjikarai said the recent crackdown on car thieves has shaken the network. “Unlike in the past, we have arrested a few brokers as well and the car-theft incidents have come down. We are searching for a few more involved in the illegal business. More arrests can be expected soon,” he said.

* July 12: An Innova, a Wagon R and two Indigos were seized by Thirumangalam police after arrest of driver duo 

* July 17: Two Taveras, two Indicas and two Tata Sumos were seized from Pallavaram, after a car thief was arrested by K K Nagar police 

* July 18: Aminjikarai police arrest two men, seize five stolen Tavera cars

* A stolen car sells for Rs 2 lakh to 3 lakh

* Thieves get Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000

* Tirunelveli and Vellore are top destinations for stolen cars