MANGALORE: Planning to buy a near brand new sports-utility vehicle for half the market price? Think again as it could be a stolen vehicle. Attempts at selling stolen vehicles are becoming clear with the police busting an inter-State gang of car thieves. They have arrested 10 persons on the charge in two months.

Also, the recovery of over 15 vehicles during the period has kept the police here busy.

The Superintendent of Police, Soumendu Mukherjee, feels that while the detection of car thefts has proved that the police are active, it has also given them the extra work of keeping an eye on vehicles in their custody until they are legally disposed of. "In most cases, vehicle owners would have already purchased a new vehicle with the insurance amount received by them and they have no use for the recovered vehicle. Insurance companies too seem reluctant to claim these vehicles. The least they can do is to claim the vehicles with a court order, dispose of them as per norms and recover at least part of their costs," he says.

The Additional Superintendent of Police, B.S. Lokesh Kumar, says that vehicle thieves seem to have gone professional. While some of them specialise in stealing, others prepare documents for the stolen vehicles. Some are involved in selling the vehicles, he says.

Those recently arrested by the police were attempting to sell the stolen vehicles when they were caught in the act, he says. The police hope to bust the racket by using information that the people arrested will possibly yield.

Moreover, it is a complex network with inter-State links.

The accused are from various parts of the country, who, in all probability, steal vehicles from one part of the country and sell it elsewhere, Mr. Kumar adds.

If convicted, an accused may be imprisoned for a maximum of seven years, he says as such cases are treated as theft under Section 379 of the IPC. Another major problem for the police is that the car thieves resume their activities once out of jail.

Asked about what precautions buyers should take before purchasing a second-hand vehicle, he says that it is important to check the documents of the vehicle.

"We have set up a motor vehicle verification centre at the district police office here. People can obtain details about any vehicle on an all-India basis on payment of Rs. 20 as challan fee.''

Besides, buyers can also verify from the Regional Transport Authority concerned if the vehicle is involved in any offence, he says and notes that in most cases, people are happy to get a car of their dreams for a song and do not bother about the legalities.

Adding to the observations made by Mr. Mukherjee on the role of insurance companies, Mr. Kumar says that it will be in their interest if they do an analysis of insurance claims received by them as far as stolen vehicles are concerned.

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