My indica stolen in broad daylight: What can I do ?

[hondadude]

Finally got the FIR done in the evening. Now its time to call the insurance folks. The Police inspector was saying that they will probably take 4 to 6 months to close their investigation. I stared at him in disbelief but there wasn't much I could do anyway so I walked out of the police station.

Does anyone know how long does it take for police to "officially close the investigation" ?

Originally Posted by kousik

I wonder if it an off topic question, but if the car is found with damages, will insurance cover them?
Kousik

Called up someone who works in Insurance. The answer is Yes, they do.

Originally Posted by GTO - Touring

Try getting in touch with him and / or have the cops call him in for questioning. If the car got flicked so easily in a crowded location, that means there was not any fiddling with the locking mechanism. A duplicate key could have been used.

Exactly the reason why I suspect the driver. I think whoever stole the car, had the key to open it and then start it. I am waiting for the driver to show up so that I can get the cops to question him but I suspect he won't show up.

Originally Posted by CorsaLove

Did you try talking to the nearby shop keepers? Pan wallahs or someone? May be you could get a clue as people around usually get used to seeing a car everyday parked at the same location and tend to know the faces of people who drive them.

The car was parked right opposite medical shop. He closes his shop between 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm and according to him when he opened his shop at around 5:00, the car wasn't there.

[clevermax]

My guess is that it is the driver. He might have procured a duplicate key when he was driving the car. Flicking a car from a busy roadside can only happen just by opening the car with a duplicate key and gracefully driving away.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by hondadude

Finally got the FIR done in the evening. Now its time to call the insurance folks. The Police inspector was saying that they will probably take 4 to 6 months to close their investigation. I stared at him in disbelief but there wasn't much I could do anyway so I walked out of the police station.

Does anyone know how long does it take for police to "officially close the investigation" ?

There's no fixed period for them to close it, they can drag it for a fair bit. But IIRC minimum period is 30 days which means that if you know someone higher up or can bribe the IO, you can be given teh final report by the police in about 30-45 days time.

[1100D]

Have you lodged a theft claim with your insurance?

[vnabhi]

Very sorry to hear about this theft. I think it must be the driver,as he might not only have made a duplicate, but also must be aware that your security alarm is not working right.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by iraghava

There's no fixed period for them to close it, they can drag it for a fair bit. But IIRC minimum period is 30 days which means that if you know someone higher up or can bribe the IO, you can be given teh final report by the police in about 30-45 days time.

Aha! That is why he was trying to scare me with large time period. It looks like I might find someone higher up so I will try to leverage him to close the case in 30-45 day timeframe.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Have you lodged a theft claim with your insurance?

Called them in the morning. They asked me to get FIR number and then call them so I will call them now or may be tomorrow morning.

[pankaj_sachdeva]

Originally Posted by hondadude

Finally got the FIR done in the evening. Now its time to call the insurance folks. The Police inspector was saying that they will probably take 4 to 6 months to close their investigation. I stared at him in disbelief but there wasn't much I could do anyway so I walked out of the police station.

Does anyone know how long does it take for police to "officially close the investigation" ?

.

Originally Posted by iraghava

There's no fixed period for them to close it, they can drag it for a fair bit. But IIRC minimum period is 30 days which means that if you know someone higher up or can bribe the IO, you can be given teh final report by the police in about 30-45 days time.

Sorry to hear about you car buddy. There's a time period that police needs to close the case. 3 months for Initial Investigation & then the Investigating officer submits the report to SSP & finally we get the final report in about 4 months (minimum). I got my Alto's final report in 5 months. Meanwhile contact the insurence guys & tell them about the theft. The will ask for a copy of the FIR.

Also was your car papers inside it, i mean the RC & was the car financed?
How old is the car?

As for the theft cases from busy roads, my Alto was stolen within 3 months of purchase & that too when it was standing inside our home

[krazydriver84]

Hey Honda dude,

Am sorry to hear about this man, I can't say that I totally feel what you are going through , but I definitely know how much it must be paining you to have something stolen from you tht at you nurture.

All I can say is that I hope you get your car back (without damages). I have heard of cases in Delhi, where cars are flicked off from owners home, and then they are found in 2-3 days , of course with everything missing in the car.

See if you can leverage the IO and try and make them investigate areas near your drivers village / neighbourhood. Possible places to find your car would be on the outskirts of the city.

Hope you find it soon.

[diabloo]

You are telling that the thief opened the gate and then made away with it? How did it happen?

Originally Posted by pankaj_sachdeva

As for the theft cases from busy roads, my Alto was stolen within 3 months of purchase & that too when it was standing inside our home

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by pankaj_sachdeva

Was the car financed?

What happens if a car bought under finance and is hypothecated to a bank gets stolen?

Is the owner obligated to continue his EMI payments?

[anandtheleo]

Just curious, during this 4-5 months the police take in investigating the theft, what about the EMI? should the bank be informed too as the vehicle is hypotheticated to them?

[pankaj_sachdeva]

Originally Posted by diabloo

You are telling that the thief opened the gate and then made away with it? How did it happen?

yeah man, I parked the car around at 11 inside my house & as I slept at at around 12:30 pm. The biggest mistake i did was leaving the main gate of the house unlocked thinking that I need to take the car out at 4 in the morning & as the car has security system installed. Woke up at 3 & the car was gone. The thieves were so good that after taking the car out,they even closed the main gate in the position it was before. We didn't heard my security system alarm or any any other noise. This happened in Gurgaon & my residence at that time was just next to Police colony.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

What happens if a car bought under finance and is hypothecated to a bank gets stolen?

Is the owner obligated to continue his EMI payments?

Yes, the owner is oblighed to continue his EMI, till the date he gets a check from the insurence company. Moreover, Insurence company issues the check in the name of the bank & we need to submit the check to bank for clsoing down our loan account. The bank after deducting pre-payment charges, gives the amount to the owner. The pre-payment charges that I paid to HDC were 4%.

[hrman]

I know for a fact that when the vehicle is damaged by accident, and under insurance investigation/purview, if you inform the Bank(for a financed vehicle), you do not have to pay the EMIs.
Not sure about how it works when stolen..

[srijit]

Sorry to hear about your loss, dude.
As an aside, anyone know if lo-jacking works in India?

[hondadude]

Thanks everyone for kind words.

What bothers me is the apathy of cops. After I filed the FIR, the cops showed no interest in investigation. I managed to get some attention today so hopefully there will be some investigation.

Originally Posted by pankaj_sachdeva

SMeanwhile contact the insurence guys & tell them about the theft. The will ask for a copy of the FIR.

Also was your car papers inside it, i mean the RC & was the car financed?
How old is the car?

The car is 3.5 years old and it wasn't financed.

Thankfully I have the original RC book with me at home. I have already filed a claim case with Insurance.