KARACHI: Cellphone dealers, police lock horns again: Drive against snatchers
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, July 3: A rift has developed between the Karachi Electronics Dealers’ Association (KEDA) and police over the sale of snatched and stolen mobile phones in Saddar electronics market.
Police claimed that the KEDA was violating the agreement reached between the two sides under which each and every shopkeeper and dealer of mobile phone had to document the process of sale and purchase of second hand mobile phone sets.
In its part, the KEDA accused the police of patronizing those shopkeepers and dealers who, it claimed, were involved in trading in stolen cell phones.
Representatives of KEDA said that police had picked up one, Rehmat Shah, a couple of months back for his alleged involvement in the illegal trading. The police had also shown the recovery of stolen mobile phones from his possession, they recalled, and added that the suspect had been let off subsequently. He resumed the business in a more aggressive manner, they claimed.
The concerned police officials believe that another trader, Noman, along with some of his partners, is involved in the sale and purchase of stolen sets. However, according to police sources, the suspect enjoys blessings of an influential figure in the government and, therefore, cannot be picked up. Any police officer who would dare arrest Noman would sure be transferred, they said.
Some police officials on condition of anonymity said that the issue of trading in stolen cell phones had been politicized. They said the whole affair was a clash of interests involving two provincial ministers. One of them, they claimed, supported the illegal trade and was patronizing those involved while the other determined to check it.
The KEDA representatives, however, denied that any minister was involved in the affairs of electronics market. They maintained that police were trying to exploit the situation to their advantage by accusing ministers in the matter.
They said that they were ready to identify the ‘black sheep’ in the market but the police officials were reluctant to nab them. They accused the police of receiving a certain amount on weekly basis from those shopkeepers who were indulged in the illegal trading in stolen phone sets.
The city police chief, Tariq Jamil, said: “We have convened a meeting of the KEDA representatives on Monday. We will ask them not to violate the agreement, and tell them to fill in the forms at the time of sale and purchase of used mobile phones.”
He maintained that the documented sale and purchase would help police locate the person who would sell a stolen cell phone set. He said that the police would give a final warning to the KEDA and if the practice of illegal trading in stolen set continued even after this, then legal action against those involved would be taken and the culprits would be arrested.
The police chief said that from January to June this year, a total of 2,918 mobile phones had been snatched at gunpoint in the city. However, he did not provide the figure of stolen sets. According to him, on an average 16 cell phones are snatched at gunpoint every day.
He said that the police, in collaboration with the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), had started receiving calls from the people who had been deprived of their cell phones. The mobile phone companies had also been cooperating with the CPLC and police.
“The data of a stolen cell phone is forwarded to the concerned company the connection of set is snapped. The method has started yielding results and the police and CPLC have so far restored more than 100 stolen sets to their owners.”
Besides, Mr Jamil said, the incidents of snatching and theft of cars and motorcycles was also showing a decline due to effective measures taken by the police.
Chief of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell SSP Bashir Memon said that a total of 1,603 four-wheelers had been either snatched or stolen over the past six months as compared to 1,842 in the corresponding period of the previous year. He said the figures showed a 13 per cent decline in such incidents.
He said that 2,560 motorcycles were snatched or stolen in January-June period this year as against 3,373 such cases registered in the corresponding span of the previous year, which showed a 24 per cent decline.
SSP Memon advised owners of cars and motorcycles to use double-lock system to avoid their vehicles being stolen.
