Patna, Sept. 8: Avoid driving through national highways at night or, if you must, make sure you don’t stop anywhere. You could get robbed.

Data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently suggests around 3,000km of national highways in the state have become a happy hunting ground for robbers. Inter-state gangs too have a free run. Sometimes, stolen goods as well as the vehicle are sold off in other states at throwaway prices.

The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that the highways crossing Bihar and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh account for almost 80 per cent of robberies and dacoities registered in the country in the past three years. And the disconcerting trend is continuing.

While Uttar Pradesh topped the list with around 64,000 robberies and dacoities in the past three years, Bihar was placed second with around 8,000 such cases.

Altogether 82,000 highway robberies were reported from across the country during the period, the NCRB report said.

Bihar recorded 1,281 highway robberies and 240 dacoities in 2013. The corresponding figure for 2012 was 1,081 robberies and 191 dacoities. For 2011, it was 1,043 robberies and 194 dacoities. Around 653 robberies and 128 dacoities have already been lodged with different police stations of Bihar since January this year.

The national highways passing through Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Vaishali and Sitamarhi have been identified as most crime-prone. Patna topped the chart with 372 robberies in the past three years alone. Some 151 highway robberies were registered in 2013, another 104 in 2012 and 117 in 2011.

Muzaffarpur ranked second with 221 highway robberies reported between 2011 and 2013. Since January this year, 64 such incidents have taken place on the national highways. Similarly, Vaishali recorded 180 highway robberies in the past three years.

Sitamarhi recorded 148 highway robberies between 2011 and 2013. Since January this year, 29 highway robberies were reported from the district close to the India-Nepal border.

Gaya reported 128 highway robberies during the corresponding period. Since January this year, 22 such cases have been lodged with different police stations in Gaya, which borders Jharkhand.

Over two dozen drivers and cleaners have lost their lives in highway crimes. The robbers, who have spread their tentacles in Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, stole goods worth over Rs 2 crore.

Bihar Truck Owners’ Association president Bhanu Shekhar Prasad Singh expressed concern at the rising incidents of highway robberies. “Highway robberies have become a routine affair these days. Every few days, there are reports of trucks getting hijacked or drivers and cleaners getting killed,” he said.

The police have identified the sensitive routes. Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said the highways between Patna and Bhojpur through Bihta and Patna and Nalanda through Fatuha have been identified as unsafe for truck drivers at night. “We have detected at least three gangs, which used to target truck drivers on the two routes in the past six months,” he told The Telegraph.

Investigations show a gang based on the Fatuha-Gaurichak stretch, led by Dilip and Chandan Sonar, are the most active on National Highway 31. The gangs use motels and roadside restaurants, where truck drivers mostly park their vehicles as their hideouts.

“We are keeping a close surveillance at these spots,” the SSP said, adding that at least two dozen members of the gangs involved in highways robberies have already been apprehended since January this year.