RAWALPINDI: The garrison city saw an increase in the incidents of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, burglaries and vehicle theft/snatching in June.

Some residents wondered why the police were nowhere to check the rising crime as there were no public protests, political processions or any incident of terrorism to keep them engaged.

During the whole month, checking street crime did not seem a priority for the police as both the regional police officer and the city police officer continued visiting the “model Ramazan bazaars” along with local administration officials sending reports to the higher authorities to show that they were working hard to provide relief to the citizens in line with the directions of the chief minister Punjab.

On the other hand, criminals continued striking without any check as more than 1,300 cases were reported to the police during the month compared to 1,268 cases in the corresponding period in 2015.

Crime figures collected by Dawn from the police showed that 20 cases of homicide and 36 cases of attempted murder were reported to the police in June compared to 17 cases of homicide and 25 cases of attempted murder in the same month last year. In most of the murder cases, the killers were known to the victims but some of the murderers are yet to be arrested.

Police officers preferred visiting model Ramazan bazaars and checking street crime was not a priority

When Dawn asked Regional Police Officer (RPO) Mohammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja whether he was satisfied with the performance of the police in Rawalpindi, he said: “The crime situation became satisfactory after the police launched strict checking in the wake of a crime wave in the district.”

The RPO said it had been observed in the past that street crime increased by the end of Ramazan. But this year it was not to that extend which could be worrying for the police.

“We will make an assessment of crimes reported to the police during June and then would be able to analyse the situation,” he added.

Though no case of kidnapping for ransom was reported in June, 12 cases of kidnapping of men and 25 of women were reported to the police compared to, respectively, nine and 21 cases in the same month in 2015.

The police claimed that they were working hard to bring the culprits to justice and reduce all categories of crimes.

“There will be no compromise on our efforts to check the street crime,” City Police Officer Israr Ahmed Abbasi told Dawn.

Vehicle theft and snatching at gunpoint have always been a big issue for the city police. As many as 55 cars and 10 other vehicles were stolen in June compared to 26 cars and eight other vehicles taken away by thieves in June 2015.

However, the number of armed robbers fell to 36, including 10 cases of motorcycle snatching, against 59 in the same month last year.

The police claimed that the decrease in the robberies was due to the arrest of a number of gangs of robbers. On the other hand, most of the victims of petty crimes prefer not to report to the police.

However, purse snatching from women shoppers by some motorcycle riders has become a new challenge for the city police.

Burglaries increased to 31 in June compared to 26 in the same month last year. But there was a slight fall in the general theft cases from 42 in 2015 to 41 in June this year. And five cases of child molestation were also reported to the police compared to only one in June last year.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2016