The Hindu : Other States / Pondicherry News : In police stations, hundreds of recovered vehicles gathering rust

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Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

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In police stations, hundreds of recovered vehicles gathering rust

Staff Reporter

Value of two wheelers, cars that have become decrepit runs into lakhs

NO SHELTERS: Recovered vehicles at Solai Nagar police outpost in Pondicherry. — Photo : T. Singaravelou

PONDICHERRY: Hundreds of stolen vehicles recovered by the police are rusting at various police stations in Pondicherry. Some of them have even fallen to pieces and become non-usable in future.

The majority of these vehicles are two-wheelers, some of them even recovered three to four years ago.

"The value of the vehicles that have become decrepit itself would run into lakhs", a senior police officer told The Hindu.

Police officers attribute mainly two reasons for the situation. A good number of these vehicles were kept in police stations for completion of the trial.

Another reason was that insurance companies, which were supposed to take possession of the vehicles, once the owner was given the claim after the vehicles were stolen, were not collecting them, said a source in the Police Department.

The insurance companies said that they could not take the custody of the vehicles until the trial gets over.

Keeping aside the legal issue, the police department is to blame for not properly maintaining the vehicles, as they are the custodians of the recovered vehicles, till the court settles the case.

Most of these vehicles are kept in makeshift shelters. The condition of vehicles kept at Solai Nagar Outpost Station is worse. The station is situated on the coast and the salt in the air speeds up rusting.

"No police stations have proper shelters to keep such vehicles and with the present strength we cannot deploy one person for the maintenance", the source said.

The police said that a viable solution would be to have a permanent structure and persons appointed exclusively for taking care of these vehicles.

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In police stations, hundreds of recovered vehicles gathering rust