GUWAHATI, April 28? There is some good news for the persons planning to buy second hand cars as the Assam Police, in collaboration with the National Crime Records Bureau, is opening an auto theft information centre in the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on May 6. Police sources revealed that detailed reports of auto theft and recoveries would be available in the information centre and anyone planning to buy a second hand car can get information from the centre on the payment of a nominal fees.
Police sources pointed out that very often the genuine purchasers are duped by some unscrupulous second hand car dealers as common people have no way of knowing whether a second hand car is stolen property or not. There were instances in the past, when people not only lost money after unknowingly buying stolen second hand vehicles but they also can the risk of being arrested for possessing stolen property, sources added. A few years back, a police team from Ahmedabad come to Assam to recover a large number of stolen vehicles. Commenting on the modus operandi of the persons dealing in stolen vehicles, police sources said that the registration numbers are changed immediately and the vehicles are disposed of in other parts of the country. However, the engine and chassis numbers of all the stolen vehicles from all over the country would be made available in the auto theft information centre and anyone planning to buy a second hand car can check the same before the purchase to prevent cheating by unscrupulous dealers.
Replying to a question on the increase in car thefts in the city, police sources said that the owners should take utmost care and proper locking systems should be installed in their cars. Sources pointed out that lack of properly earmarked parking places in the city is a major problem for the police in checking auto thefts and the persons or gangs involved in auto thefts immediately change the registration numbers and dispose of the vehicles to other States. Police sources also revealed that in several instances in the recent past, trucks carrying merchandise simply disappeared from the National Highways and it is suspected that those vehicles were disposed of in either West Bengal or in Nagaland. However, sources said that it is not possible to check the engine and chassis numbers of each and every truck plying on the National Highways to check such incidents.