“Aisa lagta hai ki hum border pe duty kar rahe hain (It feels like we are on duty at the border),” said a Delhi Police constable, deployed at a centralised Malkhana of the force at Northeast Delhi’s Wazirabad.
The constable was sitting in his porta cabin–cum–temporary room, set up for their 24-hour stay to guard 40,000 seized vehicles at the Malkhana ground, located in an open yard in the forested area of Wazirabad, next to the Delhi Police Academy.
The Malkhana yard, surrounded by barbed wire, is divided into separate pits for all 15 police districts of Delhi. Each pit is overseen by at least two policemen — a constable and a head constable — from the respective district. This particular constable is deployed at one of those pits.
The concept of a centralised Malkhana came into force in 2012 to decongest police stations, officials said. As per procedure, vehicles seized in a case remain with the police as long as they are considered case property. Once the case is concluded, these vehicles are auctioned in bulk, they added.
However, in recent years, this Malkhana at Wazirabad — spread across 20 acres — has become a matter of concern due to numerous cases of theft and fire in the pits. On April 6, a fire broke out at the site, specifically in the South District’s police pit, where at least 345 vehicles were gutted — 260 of them two-wheelers and 85 cars.
The next day, a patrolling team from the local police station in Sonia Vihar picked up a juvenile who had allegedly set the vehicles on fire in order to steal burnt aluminium and copper, a constable told The Indian Express. The reason: Melted aluminium and copper from the burnt vehicles can be sold in the market.
When The Indian Express visited several pits at the Wazirabad Malkhana, it found almost all in the similar condition. Except the central and northwest districts, none have proper boundary walls and were bifurcated with barbed wires. Also, dim light, poor fencing and very few CCTV cameras in some of the pits only aggravated the situation.
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“The barbed wires installed here are not enough to protect these vehicles from thieves. Petty criminals frequently visit the forest, enter the pits, and commit thefts,” said a head constable posted at a different pit at the Malkhana in Wazirabad.
“We have to stay on alert for 24 hours,” he said, adding that they have been given pistol and sticks for their safety.
“Last year, in Shahdara’s pit, a constable apprehended a minor attempting to steal two alloy wheels from a motorcycle,” the head constable said. “Following the incident, large holes were dug around the perimeter to prevent thieves from scaling the fence. The idea was that if someone did manage to enter, they would fall into the holes while trying to escape and become trapped.”
“These pits are surrounded by dense forest, which also posses threat from snakes and other animals,” he added. “We have written several letters to our seniors informing them about the difficult situation of patrolling but very less has been done so far.”
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The head constable further said that the central and northwest districts have installed metal sheets as boundary walls to protect their areas from theft and fire. A senior officer from the local police station said that sometimes, fires can also occur due to the heat during summer, as fuel remains in the tanks of vehicles.