With skyrocketing prices of cars, theft of their parts also on the rise in Lahore

Stealing side-view mirrors, batteries, tyres and other accessories of vehicles, particularly of the luxury cars, seems to be a ‘petty crime’ for police but the citizens are paying a heavy price for it as such incidents have increased manifold in recent times after several new groups of the criminals sprung up in the provincial capital. The criminals target the cars and other vehicles parked in the streets and by the roadsides in the commercial markets and even in the parking lots of the residential areas. Since the majority of the crime incidents go unreported, hence the crime remains unchecked in Lahore, luring more criminals to get involved in such crime and sell the stolen parts of the cars in the black market. An interesting aspect of this crime is that the Lahore police have no reliable data of the stolen side-view mirrors, batteries and other such accessories as most of the car owners don’t report the crime due to multiple reasons, prime of them being the attitude of police. This category of crime is increasing with every passing day in every hook and corner of the city. Dawn contacted many station house officers (SHOs) and the officials of the investigation wing police who, requesting anonymity, say that the crime mentioned above increased in the city after the car owners stopped reporting it due to various reasons. They claim that the majority of the criminals committing crime have escaped punishment due to the non-registration of the cases.