Bengaluru: Cops lock up bikes parked negligently to prevent thefts

BENGALURU: Two-wheeler owners in south Bengaluru who park their vehicles in poorly lit and deserted stretches or on roads outside their homes are waking up to find their rides clamped with a disc lock. Also pasted on the vehicles are messages with phone numbers of jurisdictional police stations.
At the station, they are greeted with a short lecture and a handbill on the dos and don’ts on protecting vehicles from thieves.Later, police themselves go and unlock the bikes. Night-patrol policemen from Madiwala, Bandepalya, Hulimavu, Begur, Bommanahalli and Suddaguntepalya stations of southeast division police are clamping two-wheelers parked in unsafe areas at night to ensure they aren’t stolen.
DCP (southeast) Srinath Joshi told TOI a careful study of the previous cases of two-wheeler thefts indicated that most of them were taken from places like Outer Ring Road or when they were negligently parked outside houses at night or were stationed close to the main roads, with handles not locked.
“We decided to lock up such vehicles and explain to the owner, when he or she comes to the police station, that such negligence could result in them losing their vehicle. We started locking such vehicles in mid-October and as a result, there has been a small decline in the number of two-wheeler thefts in the zone,” he added.
In November 2019, 73 two-wheelers were stolen in southeast division, mainly from Madiwala, Bandepalya, Hulimavu, Begur, Bommanahalli and Suddaguntepalya. Till November 25, 54 two-wheelers have gone missing.
‘Not fining anyone’
“There is a decline and we hope to bring the numbers further down. Before handing over the locked two-wheelers to owners, we give them a handbill explaining in Kannada and English the precautionary measures to be adopted with regard to vehicle safety and other aspects,” said Joshi, adding: “We are not fining anyone.”
Another senior police officer said on average they lock a minimum of 50 two-wheelers every night. “During days, we lock anywhere between 10 and 15 vehicles. But at night, we lock more two-wheelers. A study of previous cases showed securing the wheel using a disc lock was the best option,” he said.
BOX:
7 vehicle lifters arrested
A special police team from the southeast division recently solved 139 cases of two-wheeler thefts, recovered 174 stolen vehicles worth Rs 1.6 crore and arrested 39 suspects, including seven inter-state vehicle lifters. Of them, six are from Tamil Nadu and one from Andhra Pradesh.
“The accused would come in groups of at least four, break open the handle lock and ride away with the vehicle. They would sell off these vehicles in different parts of Bengaluru Rural, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh at throwaway prices,” an investigating officer said.
In 2019, 805 vehicles, including two and four-wheelers, were lifted from southeast division. This year, till November 25, 527 vehicles have been stolen.