City saw 3 vehicle thefts every day in 2021, worst in Punjab

Ludhiana: Continuing with the trend set in the past five years, the Ludhiana police commissionerate has again topped the state in vehicle theft cases, the NCRB report of 2021 has revealed. With 1,025 cases reported in the year, Ludhiana remained the most vulnerable on vehicle thefts among all the districts and police commissionerates in Punjab. The figures bring out the fact that approximate three vehicles were stolen every day in the year.
Importantly, the cases went up by 42.16% in 2021 as compared to data of 2020, which saw 721 cases of vehicle thefts.


Ludhiana was followed by Amritsar at 887 cases, Mohali 458 and Patiala 344 cases. Gurdaspur and Pathankot reported least such cases at 26 in 2021.
In 2020 too, Ludhiana had reported the highest number of such cases followed by Amritsar reporting 677 cases.
The data of 2021 suggested that 23.63% of total auto/motor vehicle theft cases of the state in the year were reported from Ludhiana police commissionerate.
Meanwhile, Ludhiana police officials said though the number is more, most of such cases have been solved.
Ludhiana police commissioner Dr Kaustabh Sharma said since Ludhiana is a business hub, it sees higher number of auto/motor vehicle thefts. He said most cases are of two-wheeler thefts. Police have been arresting gangs involved in vehicle thefts as and when they emerge, he added.
Police officials said they have a monitoring system through cameras under the Safe City project, which has helped trace stolen vehicles in the past. They added that residents also need to be vigilant and take necessary precautions.
Responding to alarming numbers, social activist Amarjit Kaur said these incidents occur as a number of people park their vehicles in streets as they don’t have a parking space inside their houses. She said the problem is more serious in colonies which have no gates and CCTV cameras.
Amarjit said people need to beef up patrolling in vulnerable areas to check such incidents.