Muscat: About 584 cases of vehicle thefts were reported in Oman in the first eight months of the year, according to the Royal Oman Police (ROP). Carelessness on the part of owners contributed to the rise in thefts.
Colonel Mohammad Bin Khalfan Al Dugashi, Deputy Director General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations at ROP, said 175 suspects have been arrested.
The senior police officer said, “Vehicle owners make a thief’s task easier by leaving the engine running while leaving the vehicle to run small errands.”
Col Al Dugashi added that leaving valuables visible in a vehicle tempts thieves to break into them. “Besides vehicle thefts, we also have several cases where cars are broken into to steal valuables.”
“Some people also park their vehicles in dark and deserted places, away from public view, or they leave them for a long time in places where the cars have broken down, leading to thefts,” he said.
According to Col Al Dugashi, if convicted, a car thief could get between three months to three years in prison in addition to a fine ranging between 10 to 500 Omani riyals.
He pointed out that the vehicle theft graph goes up during the summer holidays. “People leave their vehicles unattended during holidays. We have also come across cases of students stealing cars for fun.”
Police have stepped up patrolling. “We are also monitoring those convicted in the past for vehicle thefts,” Col Al Dugashi said.
Police have also unearthed a racket of smuggling stolen cars to a neighbouring country.
Residents have been urged to be vigilant, not to leave engines running in unattended cars or to keep valuables inside vehicles.
