Kedi Haralu
The number of stolen cars has started to slowly filter back into the state, but the public are still willing to pay much lesser for stolen vehicles, but it is only later when they are caught and action taken against th em by the police, they seem to wake up. But it is the buyer who stands to lose and those dealing in stolen vehicles disappear, thus making it impossible to track them down. I had approached the transport department for vehicle tracking devices, so that all busses could be traced and also if anything untoward happened, the exact location by the GPS could be very useful, plus if the Taxi Union too would make it mandatory for tracking devices in all taxis, be it private or Regional, the vehicle can be easily traced if stolen. Why I say this is just a month or two back, I used to hire a vehicle (Private Taxi) for official purposes and also to go out of station, thus becoming quite close to the driver. Although he was a bit of a crook, stealing petrol before taking back the vehicle to the owner, he was a responsible person, and although he had a love for alcohol, he only drank when off duty, which I was rather happy about, plus a quarter-bottle was enough for him to “become superman.” I had just hired him for a few days for my ailing father, and then let him go and had asked him to contact me after a few days, but a week had passed and I was quite annoyed. But when I inquired about his whereabouts, I got an answer which was rather hard to comprehend. The day after I had let him go after paying him the fare, he had agreed to a group of people, whom I suspect were known to him, for he did not bother to register nor let his colleagues know where he was going. On the faithful day he was bludgeoned to death and throat slit, and the culprits pretending to be passengers, took of with the vehicle. After Assam Police was notified, they finally found the rotting, decomposed body of the driver, thus he had to be cremated there and then and only a few of his personal items such as slippers and belt could be returned to his grieving family. If only there was a vehicle tracking system in the vehicle. It would cost below 5 thousand rupees, but what is that amount if such gangs can be caught and tried plus vehicle recovered. Why I say this is, when we buy a cheap stolen vehicle, we just do not know how it was procured?
Now, coming back to digitalized Number Plates, it makes it much easier for the cops as well as personal safety, for once the number pate is tampered with, it becomes unusable, plus the cops can still track down from the number plate who owned the vehicle, what was the make of the vehicle, the chassis number, engine number, the works. Crooks are pretty smart, but they are bound to leave out something, in their hurry and nervousness, which could link the police directly to the culprits, who work as a well greased machine, but as the Bible says “your sins will find you out.” I have a neighbor who deals in stolen vehicles, and I see him bring a lot of expensive vehicles, which are sold off. I was pretty upset with him, for just because of him an innocent vehicle owner, his driver and a Lotha friend, who had just gone out to but tamul after a hearty dinner, spent three months in an Assam Lock up. Making the story brief, a well respected doctor had just driven out his brand new bolero from the Showroom at Nowgaon, but he was intercepted by a criminal who grabbed the vehicle after scaring the Doctor with a weapon. Being a renowned person of his town, he had immediately lodged a complaint with the Nowgaon Police. Unfortunately the person who grabbed the vehicle at gunpoint was not a good driver, and had a traffic mishap just outside Nowgaon. When interrogated, the crook had given the phone number of the person who was supposed to receive the vehicle, thus the cops pretending to be a part of the Gang had called up the neighbor of mine that the vehicle was ready and would be delivered at Khatkhati. Happily my neighbor, offered to give extra money to a taxi owner just to drop him off at Khatkhati. On the way, the taxi driver was also picked up and unfortunately the Lotha fellow had agreed to tag along – just for a ride. The ride took three months, for the cops had surrounded the taxi and not giving anyone a chance to speak took them straight to Nowgaon, since the theft was recorded at Nowgaon. But I am surprised that he got off much earlier then the innocent trio and that he is still up to his old tricks.
In conclusion, if the Government and the department just spends some money on the following gadgets, instead of buying and buying new vehicles, it would make the general public feel safer, plus would do a great deal for the police department, especially Dimapur Police, who are up to their necks with similar cases, and if they arrest anyone, he is bound to have his political connections and some even in the police department, thus demoralizing the cops who give all their time and effort to keep the peace and keep the city free from crime. The Government atleast owes the police department that much. Theres no point pointing fingers and transferring officers due to their inability to solve a case, but with their hands tied, how much can we expect from them?
