North Darfur Deputy Governor’s car saved from ‘chop shop’

Military police on Sunday retrieved the vehicle of the Deputy Governor of North Darfur from a car workshop in Kutum town. The vehicle was stolen in El Fasher, in front of his house, on Friday. Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Kutum, a market trader reported that members of the military police found the vehicle in a ‘chop shop’ on Sunday. “The workshop is specialised in changing the appearance of stolen vehicles,” he explained. “There is another one, not far from Kutum town, doing the same illegal work.” The trader said that the military forces freed the thieves immediately after they retrieved the vehicle. He accused the military forces of cooperating with the militiamen, and pointed to the pillaging of the market shops of Abdel Karim Abdel Rahman and Tijani Abdel Rasul on 8 July. “The value of the stolen goods amounted to SDG30,000 ($5,230). The trail of the thieves led to the military base.” “Armed robberies and burglaries into shops and markets are no news anymore. They happen on a daily basis. The Kutum market is located at a few hundred metres from the military base, but they do not move to prevent the thefts. During the past two week, more than 40 shops were pillaged.” The market trader appealed to the North Darfur state authorities and Unamid to intervene and persecute “these thugs”. File photo Related: Gunmen hijack vehicle Deputy Governor North Darfur (12 July 2014)North Darfur market thieves’ trail leads to military base (10 July 2014)