RAWALPINDI: As many as 108 FIRs, including 88 complaints lying pending for three months, were registered in cases related to property crimes - robbery, theft, burglary and vehicle lifting - on Tuesday, the highest in a single day.

Though the number of pending cases regarding property crimes has been over 1,000 in the Rawalpindi district, the police are collecting their details to register FIRs as majority of the victims had given up following no progress on the complaints.

Newly-posted City Police Officer (CPO) Mohammad Ahsan Younas believes that without registration of cases crime could not be controlled.

Soon after assuming the charge of his office on Sunday, the CPO directed SPs of Saddar, Potohar and Rawal divisions to dig out all such cases related to property crimes and register the FIRs so that public could be facilitated.

Usually, police avoid registration of FIRs in theft, robbery, burglary and vehicle lifting cases.

A senior police official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn that if a case of every crime was registered, the actual number of FIRs would be 10 times higher.

Of the 108 FIRs, 49 were registered with the Rawal Division, 42 with the Potohar Division and 17 with the Saddar Division. Pendency of registration of FIRs was highest in the Rawalpindi division while the Potohar division stood second.

A fresh incident in which more than Rs3.2 million were snatched by armed robbers in the Potohar division was also included in the FIRs registered on Tuesday.

Faisal Hayat, owner of a petrol station, going to a bank to deposit the cash in Westridge along with his cashier when three masked men riding a black car forced them to hand over the bag containing Rs3.286 million.

Despite establishing a front desk and free registration of cases, the pendency of a large number of public complaints has raised many questions about the working of the police.

An official said police were trying to contact the citizens whose complaints were lying pending for long.

If the police cannot trace the victims, FIRs are registered on the complaint of the SHO concerned.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2019