October 1, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 18, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 30: The much-trumpeted police reforms have so far yielded no positive result in changing the “Thana Culture” in the metropolis as victims of various crimes are still being refused registration of FIR at police stations.

Hundreds of people are being robbed of their cash, valuables, vehicles, cellphones, etc on a daily basis in the metropolis but quite a few of them are welcomed by police to get an FIR lodged.

In most cases, police would just oblige a complainant to report the crime which is nothing but the victim’s statement. No investigation is made on the basis of such a report. It is only after registration of an FIR that a probe is held into a cognizable offence.

Despite introduction of police reforms, people still avoid going to a police stations to register an FIR or even report a crime owing to the fact that the police department is yet to establish its image as a people-friendly agency.
It is no less than a nightmare for one to approach the police to get an FIR lodged. Twenty-one years old Ahmed will never forget the day when Shershah Bridge of Northern Bypass collapsed.

It was Sept 1 when TV channels broke the news of the incident, in which scores of people in cars, trucks and passenger vehicles were trapped under the concrete debris and chances of their survival were grim. Watching the news on the TV set at his home, Ahmed rushed to the site of the incident on his motorbike to help the trapped people. He reached the place, parked his motorbike some yards away from the site and remained there for over three hours. When he came back to the parking area, the bike was not there.

After trying to find it out in vain, he realised that the bike had been stolen. He was helped by a policeman on duty in the area who informed him that the area fell in the jurisdiction of the Site police station.

Ahmed went straight to the police station where his complaint was noted down in the daily diary, called Roznamcha, and he was given a copy of the “Katchi FIR”, a term used for such entries. The constable who wrote the complaint advised him to come again after a couple of days when Ahmed asked him for getting an FIR registered.

Between Sept 1 and 25, Ahmed kept visiting the police station almost every day but the police did not oblige him. The policemen on duty every time used to give one reason or the other for their inability to register the FIR. A policeman told him privately that he would have to pay gratification to head muharir to get the FIR registered. He was also advised to contact some influential person or senior police officer for the purpose.

City police chief Azhar Farooqi also admits that police were reluctant to register an FIR. “It is ironic that the number of crimes taking place in this city annually is 30,000 as against 60,000 in Lahore, which is much smaller a city than Karachi,” he pointed out.