Other States - Orissa   

Phulbani safe haven for car thieves

Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR: Inaccessibility to modern communication has made Phulbani, headquarters of Kandhamal district, a safe haven for the inter-State car thieves.

Police seized four costly cars stolen from outside the State from the district following a tip off of this racket. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the case. Mystery has deepened as some counterfeit 100 rupee notes were also seized from the arrested persons.

Speaking to The Hindu , Kandhamal Superintendent of Police S.K. Gajbhiye said an inter-State gang of car thieves' was involved in it who have taken advantage of the remoteness and inaccessibility to faster internet connectivity of this district. The network of the racket is linked to New Delhi, Chatisgarh, Karnataka etc.

Modus operandi

The modus operandi of these car thieves is quite interesting. The number plate of a car stolen from Karnataka is changed to a registration number of Rajasthan by the time it reaches Phulbani. Then the members of the racket in Phulbani get the registration number of the stolen car changed to Orissa registration number through forged documents, which claim the car was bought from Rajasthan.

The stolen car with its new Orissa registration number is then sold to persons of cities of the State, including Bhubaneswar.

As the vehicle registration office at Phulbani has no facility to check the authenticity of the documents of the vehicle being re-registered in the State, the car thieves have a field day. Even the police faced problems while investigating the case. They had identified 15 cars for investigation. It took 10 days for the Kandhamal SP to check their registration and chassis numbers with the National Crime Record Bureau database to confirm they were stolen cars from different states. This delay was due to lack of `broad-band' internet connectivity at Phulbani.

It is suspected that at least 50 such costly stolen cars from various states have got registered at Phulbani to be sold in Orissa.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Jain idol of 14th century found
English authors missing Indian spirit: experts
Towards improving prisoners' literacy
Buddhist sites to be developed
Cashing in on icon image, to the hilt
Phulbani safe haven for car thieves
Fate of Orissa Textile Mills employees hangs in the balance
Verdict on Millennium Bismay plea on Monday
People want change: Congress
ASP activists stage demonstration
Probe ordered into `code violation'

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu