Go figure! Vehicle thieves go on low gear

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">You needn''t worry much about your car that is parked outside when you are busy watching a film at a theatre. Records at the motor theft squad (MTS) of the detective department, Kolkata Police, show that compared to last year, vehicle thefts in the city have gone down by more than 50 per cent this year. <br /><br />While there were about 580 two-wheeler thefts in 2004, only 130 such thefts have been recorded this year. Similarly, compare these figures: when approximately 175 four-wheelers (mostly cars and SUVs) were stolen last year, this year the corresponding figure (till date) is about 65. "In the month of May last year, 58 bikes were stolen. This May, the corresponding figure till now has been 27. However, the number of vehicle thefts in Kolkata had gone up by leaps and bounds in the past few years. So we had been trying hard to address the problem," said a senior MTS official. <br /><br />According to sources in the MTS, round-the-clock police patrolling, night vigil and better coordination between the local thanas and the MTS have been the primary reasons behind the result. The MTS officials have also been keeping an eye on gangs of unemployed young men who mostly commit such crime. <br /><br />"Unlike popular perception, vehicle thefts mostly occur in daylight, particularly during office hours and outside theatres, when a car or bike is parked for a few hours at a stretch. Beefing up vigil in these spots and theft-prone areas in south Kolkata, like Bhowanipore and Tollygunge, have borne positive results," said deputy commissioner, traffic (II), SK Mitra. <br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">madhurima.nandy@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>