Hyderabad: Seized vehicles left to rust as archaic laws delay disposals

Hyderabad: Thousands of two wheelers that have been confiscated in crime cases are left to rust in 200 police stations in the three commissionerates and adjacent main roads.

They lie there till the courts dispose of the cases involving the vehicles. In some cases, the owner does not recover the property. The system followed by the police with regard to disposing of seized vehicles is archaic, and can only be changed if investigation is speeded up using technology and the cases are disposed of quickly in court.

The responsibility to amend laws lies with the state government. Pending that, the impounded vehicles lie exposed to the weather at Nampally, Police Lines, Begumpet, Goshmahal, Marredpally, King Koti, RTC crossroads and more.

The Hyderabad police said 1,548 unclaimed vehicles whose cases were closed were auctioned in 2017. Rachakonda police last year auctioned 1,400 vehicles and earned Rs 60 lakh.

This newspaper found that most of the vehicles were seized for chain snatching, burglary, transportation of drugs, changed number plates and involvement in accidents.

In cases of stolen vehicles, the FIRs were registered at one police station and recovery made elsewhere. Because of lack of coordination between the police stations, the vehicles lay unclaimed.

Nampally resident A. Sirish said, “A month ago, an abandoned car parked near Nampally police station caught fire. The home guards dump the vehicles close to commercial shops and this is posing a threat. There are incidents of theft from the police station itself.”

Mr Alok Mishra of Marredpally said, “For over half a decade I have been watching unclaimed vehicles pile up on the road beside Marredpally police station. They have narrowed down the road. If there is space in the police station, the vehicles are kept there and those belonging to the policemen are kept on the road. Either way, the road in front of the police station is encroached”.

Explaining their difficulty, Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said, “The property is involved in an offence and cannot be disposed of until the court issues a ruling. Police stations house these vehicles in safe custody till the judicial orders are issued.”

He said the police serves two notices at the registered address of the owner to claim the vehicle. If it not claimed, the police takes over the vehicles, “The process takes six months,” he said.

He said there was no alternative space available to house these vehicles. Unlike the police, the traffic police has arrangements like open space, the biggest being the Goshamahal ground.