Car stolen but recovered
In the early morning hours of 8th November, a Toyota Fortuner belonging to Mr. Aman Chopra, a resident of N20, Panchshila Park, was stolen right outside his house. Mr. Chopra shared the incident in his own words on the colony WhatsApp group thus, “…The thieves came in a Kia car. There were 3 people in the car out of which 2 got off, forced open my Fortuner after disabling the alarm and security systems, and drove off in it. They came in at 4:26 am in one vehicle and left in two vehicles at 4:35 am.”
As per Mr. Chopra, the vehicle’s backside glass was broken to gain access, and some wiring was cut to disable the alarm system. It seems that the CCTV in their own house captured this incident. Their CCTV also managed to pick up the registration number of the thieves’ car and the same has been shared by Captain Paintola of our Society team with the police, to investigate.
Fortunately, the car was found abandoned near the Petrol Pump adjoining E block by their neighbor’s driver and was brought back by the owners.
A few unanswered questions remain relating to the incident but, unfortunately, the owner was not available for comment, so they remain a mystery. It was not clear what prompted the thieves to simply leave the car behind a kilometer away when it allegedly had enough fuel. Secondly, is it that it is so simple to disable an alarm system of such a high-end car? Toyota, when contacted, said that there is a GPS tracking available but no immobilizer, and that an alarm will go off if any window is broken into.
The other interesting thing is that, apparently, no FIR has been lodged for the incident. Shri. Hawa Singh, the beat constable, was not aware of the incident through the police records.
Be that as it may, the incident once again brings into spotlight the issue of colony security. We have one security post, manned by a single guard, for the entry and exit through two gates at N 99 and N 101 respectively. If the gates are kept shut, residents impatient to get in (or out) make it difficult for the guard to record the vehicle numbers before opening the gate, especially if cars are wanting to get into or out of the colony simultaneously from both the gates. Leaving them open makes the colony vulnerable to easy escape by thieves. We also do not have high-definition cameras and a mechanism to compulsorily slow down an exiting car (like you have at the entrance to airports) so that the camera can clearly capture the car number and the driver’s face. The Society is clearly hard pressed to create viable security solutions, given both the open nature of our colony and the lack of receipt of ‘maintenance fee’ from residents, many of whom choose not to pay even the meagre amount of Rs. 1000 per month per household, needed to cover such expenses.
Once an incident like this comes to light, a fix will surely be found but systematic and lasting solutions require investments which will only be possible to make provided all residents, including tenants, pay up for having these facilities.
