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29 March 2024

Smart thieves towing away cars in recovery vehicles

Picture for illustrative purpose only.

Published
By V M Sathish

A Dubai resident is desperately trying to locate a car that mysteriously disappeared from the parking area behind Grand Hotel in Al Qusais.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Hamid Afzal, a manager at Texas Chicken, said he has been worried about a Honda Civic car (Plate Number J 34127) since Thursday afternoon.

Says Hamid, a Pakistani national, who has lodged a formal complaint with the Al Qusais police station about the missing car: “I came back from work at around 1 am and parked the dark brown Honda Civic car in an unpaid parking area behind Grand Hotel. The parking lot was full and I parked there as usual and went up to my room.”

“Next day, I was on night duty and when I came down to take my car at around 5pm on Friday, it was missing. I am more worried since it is my friend’s car.  He gave it to me to drive it for a month when he went to Pakistan on vacation,” he added.

He checked with the police to find out whether there is any problem with the car and, according to him, an eye witness said he saw someone take the parked vehicle in a recovery vehicle at around 2pm on the same day.

Afzal was supposed to pick up his friend Mohammed Irfan, the owner of the car, from the airport when he was returning from vacation. “I have lodged a formal complaint about the car theft and I am still in the dark about its whereabouts. I went to the police station several times to enquire about it,” he said, adding that he borrowed his friend’s car because his old Hyundai car was damaged and in a workshop. This is the second time that he is using a friend’s car, because his own old car is not in working condition.

For a fast food chain employee earning around Dh5,000 per month, buying a new car for his friend will make a big dent in his finances and he is not aware of any theft insurance scheme.

“I spoke to my friend who is now in Karachi. He works in a bank here and there is no outstanding loan payment on the car. I believe this is a clear case of car theft. I don’t know whether I will be able to retrieve the car,” he said.

“After two days, my friend will come back from Karachi with his wife and children, including a new born baby. I am supposed to pick him at the airport but the car is stolen,” he added.

Smart car thieves seem to be towing away parked cars in recovery vehicles.  Such cases have been reported earlier from Dubai and Sharjah. Stolen cars are either sent out of the country or broken into spare parts. Thieves normally target high-value vehicles.

The police have been repeatedly warning residents to be careful about car theft.

Car thieves usually target parked vehicles of expatriates who go on long summer vacations. Some residents are careful not to park their car in the same location for a long period.

 

 

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