The recovery rate of stolen vehicles reduced to 21 percent in 2023, compared to 36 percent in 2022 and 38 percent in 2021, in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru recorded 3,880 motor vehicle theft cases till August this year, with just 803 vehicles recovered, according to the data provided by Bangalore City Police. Currently, vehicle theft comes under theft, and doesn’t have a separate provision.
Deepak, an IT professional said that his vehicle was recently stolen from Whitefield. “My Honda Dio was recently stolen from Borewell Road, Whitefield. I really hope I get it back, but I know it’s gone.”
R. Srinivas Gowda IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police of Crime, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru, said that the Bangalore City Police recover five to six vehicles daily. He also said that, the stolen vehicles are mainly two-wheelers.
R. Srinivas explained the low recovery rate. He said that, there is an understanding between districts and states, about how vehicle thefts are reported and recovered. The data of the recovered vehicle is registered under the respective state or district. “We have recovered vehicles from other jurisdictions like Tumkur and Andhra. But that data doesn’t come under the recovered vehicles list in Bengaluru,” he said.
Pritam Kumar Ghosh, assistant professor at Law of School in RV University said, “Current Motor Vehicle Act, MV Act of 1988 doesn’t deal with vehicle theft cases directly. It only deals with minor traffic violations, which are more petty offenses rather than serious offenses like theft.”
He highlighted the importance of more stringent provisions for theft under MV Act, “Legally, when a vehicle theft happens, police launch investigation and arrest the accused under IPC section 378 and 379, which is generally theft. The punishment is also very low under theft.”
Currently, vehicle theft is just mentioned under theft, in general, and the punishment is imprisonment up to three years, or fine, or both. The fine amount is also not specified. The Motor Vehicles Act, (MV Act) 1988 also lacks punishment for vehicle theft.
Citizen’s responsibilities
R. Srinivas Gowda, DCP, said that the theft cases reported are mostly two-wheelers and old vehicles. He also stressed that people should be more responsible. “People just leave the keys in their vehicles sometimes. Some park their vehicles over-night and leave them there for days. And some vehicles are parked in undesignated places, with no security guards or in narrow bylanes where there is no lighting. Such vehicles are easy targets for the thieves,” he added.
Prof. Ghosh said, “Our property is our responsibility. We can’t blame the state and law enforcement authorities when we are negligent.”
What can be done
Prof. Ghosh said that, at the moment there is no practice of paying any compensation to the vehicle owners by the government, “There is no compensation for the emotional turmoil and mental agony the vehicle owner has gone through. It is not taken care of by the law. There should be provision under which the vehicle owners should be compensated by the state.”
He said that IPC section 379, talks about imposition of fine which is usually a large amount proportionate to the value of the stolen vehicle. , “Usually one portion of the fine paid by the accused goes to the victim as compensation.”
He also pointed out that the police should be trained to handle these cases. “The police should ensure that the culprits are behind bars, and vehicle theft cases should be taken more seriously, like other serious crimes,” he said.
Motives behind theft
Ravi K. Agrahara, assistant professor, department of PG studies in psychology, Surana College, Kengeri, said that there could be a number of reasons why people steal, apart from the primary reason of monetary gain. “Personality traits like impulsivity, lack of ability to delay gratification, conduct issues from school days, aggression and lack of knowledge of how to channelize his/her aggression can be some psychological aspects behind theft.”
He also pointed out poverty and lack of education. Mr. Agrahara also suggested some psychological solutions. “Shift to any work related to vehicles, like taking up mechanic training or joining as sales representative in auto related showrooms.”
