The Vehicle Theft Reduction Council chairman Hadi Ho Abdullah said iKualaLumpur that vehicle thefts made up 40 per cent of the crime index last year.

Hadi, who is also Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director, said that police aimed to reduce motor vehicle thefts with the cooperation of the public.

This followed the success in addressing snatch and petty thefts through co-operative policing methods with members of the public, he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by Pemandu, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, of the Prime Minister's Department.

The statement was issued after a two-day closed door workshop organised by the council in collaboration with Pemandu attended by the relevant government agencies and private sector stakeholders to develop strategies to combat vehicle theft.

"The tentacles of criminal activities that grow to support the network of vehicle thieves are a real threat to public security," Hadi said.

He said that vehicle thefts affected insurance, with increased claims pushing up premiums and thus further burdening consumers.

In this age of borderless crime, with electronic transactions and sophisticated methods used by syndicates to steal vehicles, it was timely for the public to be involved in checking the theft, Hadi said.

Participants at the workshop included representatives of Bank Negara, the Road Transport Department, Home Ministry and Malaysians Automotive Association.

- Bernama