Ranchi: Gangs from Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, UP and Bihar are hijacking trucks and SUVs from Ranchi and adjoining districts in Jharkhand at gunpoint.
President of Jharkhand Truck Owners Association (JTOA), Uday Shankar Ojha has claimed that 50-odd trucks have been hijacked from Ranchi and adjoining districts in the past six months.
“All truck owners are scared. The incidents occur mostly on Ranchi-Patna, Ranchi-Tata highway and Barhi national highway,” Ojha told TOI. “I do not know the exact number. But I have received complaints from these truck owners,” added Ojha.
Even cops agree that there have been a series of hijacking (vehicles theft). The hijackers are experts in truck and SUVs theft.
A source in the police informed TOI: “In Delhi NCR over a dozen gangs engaged in lifting trucks, SUVs and autos have been busted recently. While petty criminals have been arrested there, kingpins have escaped and moved to Jharkhand and Bihar.”
Ranchi is one of the epicentres of such hijackings. Ranchi SSP Saket K Singh claimed that city police have been able to nab many of such hijackers.
“Quite a few cases of trucks and SUVs lifting have been registered at various police stations. It is generally a winter season phenomenon. Now we have increased vigil on national highways. It has led to good results too,” city SP Ranjeet K Prasad said.
City’s Ormanjhi police station has solved one case. “A Haryana based gang was involved in lifting the vehicle. Around half a dozen criminals have been arrested,” said a senior cop at Ormanjhi PS. Inroads have also been made into investigation of the lifting of a truck from city’s Booty More under Sadar PS.
A source in the police informed that the gangs generally comprise of around half a dozen hijackers. “They move by an SUV of their own. They give their target vehicles, be it a truck or an SUV, a chase. As soon as they seize “the right moment” they intercept and hijack the vehicle at gunpoint,” said the source. Sources suggest that a few city based criminals who have been recently released on bail are also involved into such activities.
Hazaribagh is 100 km far from Ranchi. A 40-odd km highway between Ranchi and Hazaribagh passes through several thickly forested and zigzag Ghatis. Police presence here (in Ghatis) is sparse. Thus it gives the hijackers the moments of confidence. At a number of occasions drivers and cleaners have been found with their hands and legs tied and left in the forests.
Hazaribagh SP Pankaj Kamboj has also busted around half a dozen such gangs in recent months. “Police stations situated throughout all these Ghatis (including those at entry and exit points) have been instructed to maintain strict checks. It has not only helped us recover vehicles lifted from Ranchi and other parts of the state, but also from adjoining states,” said Kamboj.
At times, vehicle lifters had abandoned the vehicles in Ghatis, he added. After TOI intervention Ranchi SSP and Hazaribagh SP have promised to increase police vigil at strategic points to further check such incidents.
The truck owners association, however, is least satisfied. A delegation of JTOA will meet DGP Gauri Shankar Rath to demand strict measures to give commuters on Jharkhand’s highways a fearless passage.
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