The parking lot of Tata Main Hospital (TMH) has turned into a happy hunting ground for bike thieves ever since the hospital’s employees’ co-operative society stopped managing it citing losses.

Kadma resident Sandeep Pramanik had kept his bike at the TMH parking lot, where parking became free from April 1, on Saturday afternoon before going to attend his ailing son at the children’s ward.

When he returned, he found his bike missing.

Pramanik, who was supposed to drop his wife Punam at home before heading for his office in Adityapur, went to Bistupur thana instead to lodge an FIR.

Ashok Kumar Singh, a resident of Baridih and a Tata Steel employee, was equally unlucky on Monday.

Singh, who had come with his ailing father to TMH, had used the parking lot to keep his bike, but couldn’t find it when he came back after two hours.

He was left with no other option but to take his father along with him to Bistupur thana to lodge a complaint.

Scores of people have lost their bikes or scooters ever since TMH parking became free with no one to keep a watch on vehicles.

On an average, two vehicles are being stolen from the spot everyday. A record number of five bikes were stolen on Friday itself.

Till March 31, the parking lot was being maintained by Tata Main Hospital Employees’ Co-operative Society.

“We had stopped managing the parking lot after suffering losses continuously for the past 10 years. We had given a notice to the TMH management on February 28 regarding our decision to stop the service from April 1,” said D.B. Roy, a senior functionary of Tata Main Hospital Employees’ Co-operative Society.

Every day, about 2,000 two-wheelers are parked in the area.

The parking staff belonging to the employees’ co-operative society used to charge Rs 5 per vehicle and kept a strict watch on them.

One of the executive members of the co-operative society said the maintenance of the parking area should be handed over to an NGO.

“We know that vehicles are being stolen regularly in the absence of a proper surveillance system. The hospital management should hand over the responsibility to an NGO as soon as possible,” the executive member said.

Bistupur thana OC Rajesh Prakash Sinha also confirmed reports of vehicle theft.

“We can detect a case of vehicle theft, but cannot keep a watch on so many vehicles parked in front of TMH,” Sinha said, adding that the hospital management should engage a private agency or an NGO at the earliest.