KARACHI: 34,477 cases of robbery reported in six months
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, July 24: Eight persons are deprived of their cash and valuables every hour in the city, as 34,477 cases of robberies and thefts were reported to the police during the first half of this year.
A steep rise of 43 per cent has been noticed as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In the first half of the year 2005, four persons were deprived of their cash and valuables every hour as 19,490 such incidents were reported to the police.
The major increase has been witnessed in the street crime involving cellphones snatchings. In the first half of this year, a total 24,575 people were deprived of their mobile phones as compared to 9,693 such cases in the first half of the previous year.
According to statistics compiled by the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee, 9,224 mobile phones were reported snatched at gunpoint and 15,351 other mobile phones were reported stolen in the first half of this year. The reported incidents were less in the corresponding period of the previous year as 3,797 mobile phones were snatched at gunpoint and 5,896 other cellphones were reported stolen.
The CPLC cited the reasons as increasing awareness among people for a sharp rise in the reported cases. It said that people immediately contacted the CPLC after their mobile phone was either snatched or stolen.
A total available strength of the city police is about 25,000 who appeared helpless in containing the robberies and theft incidents across the city, despite the fact that the reported incidents of 34,477 are less than those which had gone unreported.
Many people, who are deprived of their cash and belongings, do not bother to inform police for certain reasons. It is a general impression that if a victim reports to police, he or she would get in trouble.
Besides, station house officers in more or less all police stations appear to be reluctant in registering FIRs more than two or three a day. They wanted to contain crime incidents on record and the best way of it is to limit the registration of FIRs to two or three a day.
People, who somehow manage to approach any influential, are able to get their case registered while citizens in general complain that police put lame excuses to avoid registration of their case.
A man, who was deprived of his car at gunpoint in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, informed the police on Madadgar 15 immediately and later went to the Mubina Town police station. He was told that two FIRs were registered on that day and third FIR could not be registered. He was advised to visit the next day to get his case registered. He continued to pay visits for five days and ultimately he was fed up. He called one of his friends, who influenced the police and the case was registered. There are a number such examples in which the police did not register FIR.
A senior police officer on condition of anonymity said that the orders came from the high-ups and if the government decided for once to let the actual crime register, the crime figures would certainly rise four to five times but the police and the government would have the actual crime statistics which would help them evolve precise planning to eradicate the crime.According to Sindh police statistics, a total number of 2,557 robberies were reported in the first half of this year as compared to 2,980 in the first half of the previous year. Similarly, 816 cases of burglary, and 996 cases of thefts were reported during the first six months this year as compared to 1,013 cases of burglary, and 1,063 cases of thefts registered in the corresponding period of the year 2005.
Apart from robberies and thefts, the statistics show that 556 cases of murders, 548 cases of attempt to murder, 20 cases of culpable homicide, 161 cases of grievous hurt, 577 cases of rioting, 90 cases of Zina under Hudood Ordinance, 541 cases of abduction, 22 cases of kidnapping for ransom, 64 cases of child lifting, 2,490 cases under Arms Ordinance, 346 cases of gambling, and 3,769 miscellaneous cases were registered at various police stations across the city in the first half of this year.
The data shows a total number of 21,209 registered cases as against 24,661 cases registered in the first half of previous year. The city of Karachi has 96 police stations and the data shows that 1.2 FIRs on an average were registered per day in each police station as against 1.4 FIRs per day on an average in the first half of the year 2005.
By adding the total number of cellphones to the data, it becomes 45,784 cases in the first six months of the year 2006 as compared to 44,151 in the first half of the year 2005.
