KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday directed Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon to continue targeted and intelligence-based operations against criminals involved in kidnapping for ransom, street crimes, drugs and land grabbing.

Presiding over a meeting to review the law and order in the province, he also asked the IGP to effectively monitor certain educational institutions in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton where drug peddlers were reportedly operating.

“The law and order would improve when these few crimes are curbed and their perpetrators arrested,” he said.

The meeting was informed that a number of drug addicts were involved in street crimes and land grabbing in different parts of the city.

US Ambassador Donald Blome meets Murad, announces $1m disaster assistance

The CM asked the police to take effective and strict measures to curb the menace of drugs in the city, especially in educational institutions.

Talking about street crime, the CM said that the menace must be curbed by conducting regular intelligence-based operations.

2,154 bikes snatched in July

Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho informed the chief minister that the incidents of mobile snatching had started declining.

He said that in June, 2,600 motorcycles were snatched while in July, the number came down to 2,154.

Similarly, 4,195 four-wheelers were stolen in June 2022 and the number dropped to 3,840 in July, he added.

The CM was told that in 498 encounters with street criminals, 65 suspects were killed, 343 gangs busted, 496 arrested red-handed, and 3,943 different kinds of illicit weapons were recovered.

The IGP informed the CM that due to corrective measures and day-to-day targeted search operations, the situation concerning targeted killing in Karachi had improved considerably.

He said incidents of terrorism and attacks on law enforcement agencies in Karachi had also declined.

He added that 51 attacks were carried out in 2013, 34 in 2014, seven in 2015 and only three attacks were reported in 2022.

Giving the details of murders, the IGP told the CM, 2,789 murders were reported in 2013 while the number came down to 391 in 2022. Answering a question of the CM, the IGP said personal enmity was the main cause of the murders, adding that no political, ethnic or sectarian targeted killing had been reported.

The CM was told that 102 murder cases were detected and 149 accused were arrested in 2022.

$1m US grant

The United States has announced a new $1 million grant to bolster Sindh’s ability to address disasters, such as the current flooding, it emerged on Friday during a meeting of US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome with CM Shah.

The meeting discussed losses and damages caused by heavy downpour, projects of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the education and health sectors and other matters of mutual interest.

CM Shah said that heavy rains claimed 130 lives, while 422 people sustained multiple injuries.

The US ambassador told the chief minister that his government had announced a new $1m grant to strengthen Pakistan’s ability to address disasters, such as the current flooding.

He said the US government was committed to helping Pakistan and would work side by side with the federal and provincial governments and the international community towards the recovery that was bound to bring back the dynamic vitality of the Pakistani nation.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022