How my laptop got stolen from my car: What do I know & what I have learned

Life is all about learning mistakes and I learnt mine in a hard way. In broad daylight, I parked my car to take out money from an ATM at Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, UP and when I came back to the car within 10 minutes, I found something that no one should find. The rear glass of my car broken, laptop and wallet was gone and I was left with my sorrows. Here is what happened.

The incident happened during a weekend, a Friday. Since the Indirapuram Habitat Centre does not allow cars to be parked at the front, I parked it on the side road, in front of the Presidium School. I wanted to take out some cash and my wife wanted to come with me. So we both went into the market after parking the car in a place where there were many other cars parked in the vicinity.

Since there was a long que at the ATM, we took about 8 to 10 minutes to take out the money and return to the car. My wife spotted the broken glass and said that someone broke the glass. My first glance went to the laptop bag that I kept on the rear seat. I always carry my laptop since my work life needs to be with a working system all the time. The thieves broke the glass, took the laptop bag. There were two of them mine and my wife’s. My wife’s laptop bag was empty but there was her wallet inside it. So the smart thieves saw that the bag is empty and they threw it a few metres away from the car. Here are a few lessons that I learnt from the incident.

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What did I learn from the incident?

First thing: Never leave your valuables in the car. If there is something that you cannot carry with you, please take some effort and keep them inside the boot or under the seat.  Thieves always survey the cars and check if they will get something in return if they break into a vehicle. If all the valuable items are out of sight, they generally would not touch the vehicle. Also, parking it at a safe parking where there are guards to look over your vehicle is recommended.

My car did have a security system that sounded the alarm but the security guards at the Presidium School said that they did not see anything and did not get know anything about the robbery. Also, it is a good idea to have a GPS-based security system in the car. Many new cars including the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Tata Altroz iTURBO and more offer the same as standard but most vehicles do not offer the same. However, you can get aftermarket systems installed that will send you a notification to you if someone breaks into the vehicle. That could have probably saved me from the massive loss that I suffered.

Current status?

I have registered a complaint and FIR with the UP Police but sadly, they have nothing to say on the matter or have any updates about the incident. Most of these incidents go unreported and police do not take action. The closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the Presidium School entrance were not working, so there is no visual evidence of the robbery taking place.

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