A gang of car thieves was able to enter C-9 block in Vasant Kunj and make away with three vehicles within 15 minutes, an exploit that has left the colony people alarmed and anxious. CCTV footage captured the men, who appeared to be armed, arriving in a sedan and later driving away in a Scorpio, Innova and a Swift from the parking lot. The incident took place after midnight on Wednesday. Residents say footage recovered from CCTV cameras located in the vicinity of the parking lot showed the gang members approaching the cars parked there. They tried breaking the locks of some of the vehicles, then managed to tamper with the lock of the Scorpio and open it. The men then moved on to the Innova and Swift, after which two men climbed into each of the vehicle and drove off. One of the gang members kept an eye out for guards and residents.
“The robbery spot is just a few metres away from a police post manned by three policemen. However, there was no one there during the incident. The police station is around 100 metres away from the spot,” said Harjinder Saroha, president of the resident welfare association.
Around 12.40 am, the robbers drove away in the four cars. Some residents saw the convoy speed away unchallenged by the colony security or the police. It was only in the morning that the car owners realized that their vehicles had been stolen.
All the cars were reportedly less than a year old and fitted with security systems that the robbers had managed to deactivate. The owner of the Innova, K P Singh, said that he had purchased the car in February this year and had installed a gear lock that the gang seemed to have removed with ease.
The police suspect a gang from Meerut to be behind the thefts. If that is the case, the cops are not very hopeful of recovering the cars. Stolen vehicles are dismantled within hours and sold as scrap, explained one police officer.
Under current rules, the car owners will be able to claim insurance once they receiving an “untraced report” in 21 days from the crime branch’s newly formed e-police station.