JOIN USGautam's son had taken the SUV and parked it after a family outing near his Mayur Vihar Phase-III residence at around 10:30 pm yesterday, but there was no trace of the vehicle this morning, a senior police official said.
"I bought the Bolero four months ago after availing a bank loan. My son took it last night. He stays in the first floor of the building and parked the vehicle near the building," Gautam, who represents Kondli constituency, said.
This morning, he said, when his son came out he could not find the vehicle and then informed police about it. "One of the neighbours claimed that he had seen the vehicle around 5:30 am," Gautam told PTI.
He claimed that at least 24 motorcycles were stolen from Pocket-II and IV of Mayur Vihar Phase-III in the past six months besides five-six cars. "Motorvehicle thefts are on the rise in these areas," he said.
A case has been registered and efforts were on to trace the vehicle, the police official said.
According to Delhi Police statistics, around 10,000 vehicles were stolen from the capital this year so far as against last year's figure of 11,892 out of which only 2,184 were recovered.
In 2008, the number of vehicles stolen was 9,949 and recovered ones a dismal 1,934.
The ZIPNET, an official e-platform to share information among police forces in north India, has uploaded 1,29,221 cases of vehicle theft cases since August 2007.
According to the website, South Delhi topped the list with 28,849 followed by North-West (17,976), West (16,850), East (14,862) and South-West (11,388).
With the rise in vehicle thefts as well as street crime, the Delhi Police has intensified checking of vehicles in the city in the past few days.
"Anybody who cannot produce registration papers of the vehicle cannot take the vehicle. We have noticed that a number of stolen vehicles have been used in committing crimes," the official said.
Police also advised public to install anti-theft gadgets like alarm, gear-locks, anti-theft steering wheel lock.
"One should not leave the vehicle unattended without locking the ignition and removing the key. A significant number of automobiles are stolen because drivers fail to remove ignition keys," the official said.