Hunt for 'tyre ripper' as police step up patrol

POLICE have started investigating an incident of mass vandalism in which hundreds of tyres of vehicles parked in the Al Saad area were slashed in the early hours of Saturday.

In the first case of its kind in Qatar, close to 200 vehicles were vandalised in an area that included the basement parking of a three-storey building complex (40+flats), covered parking areas of 10 townhouses, the shaded parking of a mosque and the basement parking of a stand-alone building with some 40 flats.

An official at the Al Saad police station told Gulf Times that all the cut-marks on the tyres were of a similar nature and was carried out by one object, instead of many.

“The attack seems to have been carried out by one person. This person seems to be insane. If the attack was carried out due to some animosity, it would have been just one, maybe two cars,” he noted.

According to him, only eight people have filed complaints with the police so far.

“It is important for people to report such incidents, otherwise we won’t be able to follow them up,” the official maintained.

One of the affected residents in the area told Gulf Times: “We contacted our sponsor, who has provided us with the accommodation, and he advised us to go to the police station and file a complaint.”

After the complaints were lodged, the police arrived on the spot and started an investigation, he said.

The police also promised the residents to step up the patrol in the area, it was learnt.

A vehicle owner who went to the police station quoted an official as saying that a similar incident had taken place a few years ago, but far fewer cars were vandalised at that time.

“An Iranian was caught on the basis of fingerprints and it turned out that he had just opened a tyre shop.”

Meanwhile, about two dozen vehicles were still standing on flat tyres yesterday afternoon in the Al Saad area. They included SUVs, sedans and station wagons and their owners, it is understood, are presently out of the country.

“There’s an unpleasant welcome awaiting them when they come back,” remarked an affected car-owner.

Some residents of the area have called upon their building managers to hire the services of security companies to ward off such incidents in future.

“Going by this experience, we will need someone to take charge of the safety and security of this building which has more than 40 apartments. We’ve also asked them to install closed circuit TV cameras and take other measures,” one resident of a building said.