Auto thieves strike at wedding halls

If you are planning to attend a marriage in east Delhi, beware.  Auto lifters and snatchers are on the prowl.

Snatching and car thefts are common at east Delhi’s Anand Vihar – only more so during this wedding season. Several such incidents have been reported from outside marriage venues, particularly those at CBD Ground near Park Plaza Hotel.

Despite the temporary pickets set up by local police on roads leading to the marriage venue, criminals get away easily after stealing cars and other valuables.

From January onwards, more than a dozen such cases have been reported outside CBD Ground banquet halls.

On February 5, Krishan Pal Sharma of Loni in Ghazaibad said his scooter was stolen from the CBD Ground where he had come to attend a friend’s marriage.

On February 1, Sarovar Park homemaker  Mamta Bhatt became the victim of snatchers as she came out of that marriage venue.

“After attending a marriage ceremony of my close relative, I was moving towards my car when suddenly two bike-borne assailants snatched my gold mangalsutra and necklace,” she said in her complaint.

On the same night, Faridabad businessman Praveen Kumar Garg’s Maruti Esteem car was stolen at the same location.

On Januray 30, Naresh Soni of Laxmi Nagar too returned home minus his car after attending a relative’s marriage. It was stolen from near a banquet hall at Agarwal Fun City.

On January 20, Surendra Kaur of Indraprastha Extension in east Delhi complained that her gold necklace was snatched when she had come to attend a relative’s wedding at a banquet hall near CBD Ground. “They snatched my chain and easily fled from there,” she said.

Pickpockets

Not just car thieves and snatchers, pickpockets too are cashing in on the opportunity. Engineering student Varun Bali's mobile phone was stolen at his brother’s wedding.