RAWALPINDI: The crime rate in Rawalpindi jumped up as uncertainty during the 100 days of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government reportedly prevented police high-ups from drawing a comprehensive strategy against delinquents in the district.

The surge was noticed especially in street crimes such as vehicle lifting, armed robberies, kidnapping of woman as well as murder and attempted murder cases.

The crime situation raises serious questions but the situation appears to be ‘business as usual’ for the police.

Led by cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, the PTI assumed power on Aug 18 after getting people’s mandate in the general elections held on July 25 with a 100-day plan to bring the same reform in the Punjab police as the party had introduced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during its previous five-year tenure there. To implement the reform, the prime minister had announced the appointment of former inspector general of police KP Nasir Khan Durrani as an adviser to the Punjab government.

The Rawalpindi police may have tried to keep check on crimes during the four months (Aug-Nov) but they could not draw a comprehensive strategy to control the situation as more and more people became victims to criminals.

According to a statistical review of the reported crime incidents, about 94 people lost their lives in murder cases and another 154 were subjected to murderous attempts compared to 77 murder and 147 attempted murder cases in the corresponding period of 2017.

Other crimes that took place in the same period across the district were even shocking as 5,652 cases were reported from Aug 1 to Nov 30 compared to 5,527 cases registered during the same period last year.

People lost their property worth millions of rupees in armed robberies, burglaries and thefts.

As many as 279 cars and 338 motorcycles were stolen, mostly without trace or recovery, compared to 162 cars and 230 motorcycles taken away by auto-thieves in 2017.

In addition, 78 other vehicles were stolen compared to 42 in the same period last year.

Besides, 52 people were kidnapped with 17 for ransom in addition to 165 cases of women abduction, 24 rape and one gang rape cases compared to 45, 15, 142 and 21 cases respectively in the same period last year.

There was also an alarming increase in armed robberies as 295 robbery cases were reported compared to 143 in 2017. Four people were killed in armed robberies compared to only two such cases in the same period last year.

A noticeable increase in house and shop burglaries was also observed as 161 such cases were reported to the police compared to 152 cases in the same period in 2017. There was also a surge in general theft cases - 167 reported in four months against 142 in corresponding period of 2017.

Around 32 child abuse cases were reported to the police during the period this year compared to 19 in the same period in 2017. At least 61 motorcycles and seven other vehicles were also snatched at gunpoint compared to 27 motorcycles and only two other vehicles taken away in 2017.

There was a slight decrease in fatal accidents that dropped from 48 in 2017 to 36 in the four months in 2018. However, non-fatal accidents increased slightly from 63 in 2017 to 65 this year.

A senior police official attributed the increase in crime rate to the massive reshuffling of police officers and officials and posting of officials from other parts of the province to the district on the eve of the general elections.

He said most of the police officers were not aware of the crime situation and gangs operating in the city.

“Loose command and grip of police officers on crimes and unplanned (one after another) transfer of senior officers, majority of whom were not willing to be posted to Rawalpindi, was another major cause of surge in street crimes,” the senior official told Dawn.

He said perhaps the chief minister had been busy in Lahore and other parts of the province as he had no time to look into the affairs of the Rawalpindi police.

The local police remained under scathing criticism of the citizens as gangs of robbers continued striking in the city without any check, he added.

These crime figures may not be easily digestible for the citizens who have been paying taxes to run the police and other state machinery and were expecting from the prime minister to bring reforms to the police system. However, they now seem to have been disappointed.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018