1,500 mechanics join ‘Friends of Police’ to curb vehicle thefts

Coimbatore: To curb two-wheeler thefts, the police have roped in more than 1,500 employees of mechanic shops in the city on Monday. The employees were enrolled as volunteers of 'Friends of Police'. They pledged to help the officials in preventing the crime.

After welcoming the new friends of police, city police commissioner A Amalraj said that the incidences of chain snatching and two-wheeler thefts had increased in the city. "The motorbikes used by accused in most chain snatching cases are stolen vehicles. So, even if we have CCTV footage, it becomes difficult to trace the accused as the owners are different. So we wanted to involve two-wheeler mechanics in an effort to reduce crime in the city," he said. The commissioner held a meeting with both the old and new volunteers of 'Friends of Police'.

Coordinator of 'Friends of police' S Senthil Kumar said there are more than 2,000 two-wheeler mechanic workshops in the city. "Most two-wheeler workshops are located in prime localities. They have a direct contact with people of the city. If they keep an eye on people buying stolen bikes or people selling stolen bikes, it will be extremely helpful to the city police to prevent such crimes," he said.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) P Perumal said that they had recorded nearly 683 chain snatching cases and 472 theft cases in 2016.

"If all the two-wheeler mechanics help and guide the police, our work will become much easier. All the assistant commissioners from different zones of the city took part in the meeting and interacted with the mechanics," he said.