The Peninsula
Doha, Apr 25: A car thief, who succeeded in eluding the police for a week, eventually ran out of luck after the vehicle was involved in an accident.
He was caught even though he managed to flee the scene of the accident. In panic, he forgot his mobile handset and a forged driver’s licence in the stolen car, which ultimately led the investigators to zero in on him.
The car belonging to a woman resident was stolen when she went to drop her child to a kindergarten. It was early in the morning and the unsuspecting owner left the car with its ignition on and the doors unlocked. She thought she would just leave the child inside the school campus and rush back.
But when she returned the car was gone. She looked for the vehicle in the neighbourhood for a while thinking it could have been parked by someone nearby, but soon realized it was stolen. She filed a complaint with the police.
The police failed to make a breakthrough until one fine evening when they were informed that a car had met an accident but its driver was missing. The police arrived on the scene and during a search of the vehicle found a mobile handset and a driver’s licence inside. The handset had no SIM card. Investigations revealed that the vehicle had a stolen plate number and the driver’s licence was forged too, except the photograph pasted on it and the phone number written in it were genuine.
The investigators, with the help of the photograph and the phone number, succeeded in zeroing in on the culprit. They also traced out his SIM card details with the help of the telecom authorities.
The police launched a manhunt and the suspect was arrested and interrogated. He confessed to having stolen the car. He said after committing the crime, he went to a garage in the night looking for the plate number of an old and abandoned car. He found one and replaced the original plate number of the stolen vehicle.
The police referred the case to the Public Prosecution for thorough interrogation. According to a news item posted on the website of the Ministry of Interior, legal action is to be initiated against him.
The Ministry has, meanwhile, urged motorists to be cautious and not leave their vehicles with ignition on and doors open even if they park it just for a few moments. “This can be a risky business,” the Ministry said.