Police protect preferred people, leave others on their own THE graph of crime in Islamabad has been climbing up for months. Worried citizens accuse the capital police of being lax to their duty to protect the life and property of all citizens, not just that of the elite class. This impression that the energies of police are focused on protecting the rich and powerful is strengthened when police are found to be quick in tracking down the criminals who have hurt high-profile victims but in the case of ordinary citizens their efforts appear to be an eyewash. In fact in one case a citizen who helped police to hunt down robbers had to pay with his life last week when a gang of robbers raided his house, shot him dead and took away his car. However, the capital police chief, instead of admitting their failure in curbing crime and providing security to the citizens, shifted responsibility of increasing crime rate on other departments. “There are many other authorities who are responsible for the protection of the life and property of the citizens,” the Inspector-General of Police said in press conference held on September 2, adding, that people and journalists always hold responsible the police for increasing crime rate in the city. The arrest of six robbers who had committed a daring robbery in broad daylight in the F-8 house of the owner of a construction company on July 29 last is indeed a big feather in the cap of the city police and proves they have the means to check crime and nab criminals if they had the will and were serious about their duty. The news of the arrest was broken by the angry Inspector-General of Police, Islamabad, Syed Asghar Raza Gardezi at a press conference whose good mood was spoiled when he was told police only cared for the life and property of the rich and were least bothered when the victims were ordinary people. He retorted journalists were in the habit of blaming police for rise in crimes in the city though police alone were not responsible for the situation. The IGP said that the incident of F-8 sector robbery was a big challenge for the city police as the victim was a foreign investor and the robbery could scare foreign investors. He said it was a matter of pride for the police to have caught the criminals and recover cash and ornaments worth millions in as short a time as one month. He did not mention 200 other robberies in the last eight months which await arrest of robbers and recovery of looted cash and goods. In the incident on July 29 last six armed men entered the F-8/4 house of Malik Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, owner of Pak-Gulf Construction Company and Sardar Builders looted cash, gold and diamond jewellry worth Rs20 million, Rs500,000 in cash, 10 mobile phones, two licensed pistols and other household articles. But police so far have recovered Rs400,000 cash and jewelry worth not more than Rs10 million. However, the recovery was being described as a big achievement, as in the history of the capital only a few times the police had been able to recover looted wealth of this value. The robbery was a great embarrassment for the police and there was an uproar in VIP circles. Soon two investigation teams were constituted – one under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent of Police, Sarfarz Khan Virk and the other led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Crime Investigation Agency, Bashir Noon. On a tip two different police teams raided a wooded area of sector G-8 where the culprits were hiding and planning another robbery. Police arrested them on the night between September 1 and 2. However according to insider story the criminals were arrested from Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi during raids by the investigations teams. The teams recovered the looted gold from them as well as from goldsmiths and other buyers of the stolen ornaments. The IGP said that the teams visited Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar after getting information from Adiala Jail about the release of convicts involved in robbery incidents. Later the teams got the information that a gang was active in the capital which led to their arrest. However, insiders said the criminals were traced when one of them used a stolen mobile which was under observation. Later the teams under ASP Virk and DSP Noon traced other numbers to the remaining robbers. The robbed builder had announced a cash reward of Rs1 million for the investigation teams. In addition the promotion of Bashir Noon to the rank of DSP from inspector was also under consideration. The police insiders said the case was solved in the short period of one month because the government, including the foreign minister, was keen on solving the crime. They asked the police to solve the case as soon as possible and recover the looted amount and valuables. But such efficiency is seldom shown in other cases even where a robbery results in loss of life of the victim. Common people who are deprived of their properties later face extortion by police as soon as the case is registered. This is part of the investigation process. In the rare case where police succeeds in recovering the goods, these are held in police custody till they turn into antiques. This is done under the rule of superdari. But the slightest mention of these practices angers the guardians of our life and property.
THE graph of crime in Islamabad has been climbing up for months. Worried citizens accuse the capital police of being lax to their duty to protect the life and property of all citizens, not just that of the elite class.
