Army medic's vehicle stolen ahead of R-Day

Car has Defence sticker, police on alert

A white-colored Hyundai Santro car belonging to an Army colonel with stickers of Defence Services Officers Institute (DSI) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was stolen from outside Lodhi Garden in south Delhi on Sunday afternoon.

Judging the sensitivity of the matter in the wake of upcoming Republic Day celebration, just two days away, an alert has been sounded around the city and several teams have been formed to track the missing vehicle.

“We received the information regarding the car-theft at 2.30 pm, and have registered a complaint. We are searching for the vehicle. Prima-facie it looks to be a normal case of theft, however, we are investigating the case from all the angles,” said a police officer.

Dr. Colonel Shailendra Singh, posted at AIIMS on deputation had come to Lodhi Garden for picnic with his wife and son on Sunday at 12 pm. He parked his car along with that of 40 other colleagues’, all from non-Army background, outside the Garden and went inside.

“I had come with my family for a picnic with my AIIMS colleagues. When I returned after two hours from the Garden, I found my car missing from the spot where I had left it. I searched around, thinking if I had mistakenly parked it somewhere else, however, when I couldn’t trace it anywhere I called the police,” said Colonel Singh.

The 2005 model car with a registration number HR 51T 6646 had a central-locking system and according to Colonel Singh, he had rolled up all the windows before locking it. No valuable was inside the car when he left it at the parking lot, Singh added.

This is the third such incident in a week where a vehicle-theft has alerted the security agencies ahead of the Republic Day celebrations.

On Wednesday, a missing taxi, with its driver found mysteriously dead some 500 km away in Himachal Pradesh, had triggered a nation-wide alert by the police.
The white Alto taxi was hired on January 14 by three young men who wanted to go to Pathankot. The body of the driver was found on Wednesday in Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.

On the same day, a Tata Safari was stolen from the home of Anand Swarup, the Inspector General of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Noida.

Police across India are on guard ahead of Republic Day, which will feature French President Francois Hollande as Chief Guest.