No car’s safe here

Despite the presence of several private guards, at least three vehicles have been stolen within last one month from the posh SFS apartments of Hauz Khas in south Delhi

No car's safe here

Despite the presence of several private guards, at least three vehicles have been stolen within last one month from the posh SFS apartments of Hauz Khas in south Delhi

You wake up one morning and your faithful set of wheels is no longer parked out the house. This has been happening quite frequently in recent days with residents of SFS apartments of Hauz Khas in south Delhi.
The high-profile colony manned by several private security guards has been plagued by a gang with a unique modus operandi of car theft. Within the last one month at least three similar incidents have been reported. Cops are clueless and residents are worried. Several of the victims contacted MiD DAY.

Park at owner's risk: Within last one month at least three cars have
been stolen from the SFS apartments of Hauz Khas in south Delhi.
(Insert) Glass pieces found at the place where one of the cars was
parked. Pic/Mid Day

Shattered glass
25-year-old Vivek Raj Anand, employed with an MNC, reported that his 2009 model Swift VDI was stolen on May 20. "I strongly believe that there is a gang of auto lifters operating in this area and there modus operandi is quite uncommon. They break or cut the glass pane and then steal the vehicle. For the last one month my car was parked in front of my flat. I usually take a break from my studies and go out in the balcony late at night. On May 19 I joined my office; the very next day I was got dressed for office in the morning and went out but couldn't find my car. I called the cops and registered an FIR. The gang has lifted other cars in the area in a similar fashion," he told MiD DAY.

Intruders?
Vishal Aggarwal (25), another resident of the locality whose white Swift VDI (DL 93S 4705) was stolen on April 26, has a similar tale to narrate. "I woke up and found my car missing. I asked the neighbours but no one knew anything. After I had lodged an FIR, one of my neighbours told me that she had seen something out of the ordinary in the morning. She told me that she saw three people lurking around at about 4.30am - one of them was bald, another was quite tall and the third one was short in height. She told me that they had arrived came in a silver coloured car. But because of darkness she wasn't able to see their faces or visualise the registration number of the car. They were wandering around the apartment and then they stopped near my car. She tried to call me but my phone was dead. The lady was scared so she didn't raise an alarm. The guards were clueless about the incident; they maintain a regular entry and exit register of vehicles but they didn't have any information about my car," he said.

Morning woes
26-year-old Rajwinder Singh Virk lost his brand new black Mitsubishi Lancer (PB 02AP0064) while visiting a friend at the society on March 7. He went out in his car in night and came back again and parked it near his friend's house. The next morning, it was gone. "I went to the society guards and asked them about the theft. When I saw the register I was shocked to see that they had noted my car's licence plate no. wrong, turning it into a Delhi vehicle instead of a Punjab one. The police created more trouble while lodging an FIR. They told us that we had parked our vehicle somewhere outside the premises of the apartments and lost it as the entry was not correct. After a day-long argument session I was finally able to register an FIR," Rajwinder told MiD DAY.

'Working on it'
When contacted by MiD DAY, local police officials said that an investigation is in progress and because it is in the initial stages, no information can be shared. "We are investigating the cases; it's very early to declare whether one gang of auto lifters is involved in all of them. We will be able to say anything after we make some arrests," said a police officer.

Straight talk
Vivek Raj Anand
Owned a Swift VDI
The behaviour of the guards in the society was very unprofessional and the cops too were lackadaisical.

Rajwinder Singh Virk
Owned a Mitsubishi Lancer
I am still in a dilemma as to how can anyone steal my car from a guarded area. The guards were awake all night and they didn't even bother to stop the car.

Vishal Aggarwal
Owned a Swift VDI
Our neighbour had seen some suspicious people in the area but didn't raise an alarm out of fear.