LAHORE: The Dolphin Squad repaired and fielded a fleet of 365 heavy bikes to prevent street crime at 540 hotspots of 85 police stations of Lahore in response to reports of the robbers targeting Eid shoppers there.

Of them, 40 motorcycles were recalled from Dera Ghazi Khan, the hometown of former chief minister Usman Buzdar. These heavy bikes were sent to DG Khan during the tenure of Mr Buzdar, ignoring the fact that they were meant for Lahore only.

An official told Dawn that the then CM had dispatched the fleet of 40 Dolphin Squad bikes from Lahore to DG Khan and all of them had been thrown into workshops with multiple technical faults.

The official said the street crime had increased during the past few months when about 600 heavy bikes of the Dolphin Squad were grounded due to unavailability of spare parts.

40 motorcycles taken to DG Khan in Buzdar tenure brought back; cops on bicycles patrol areas frequented by women, children

During that time, the squad’s high-ups had brought the matter to the notice of top authorities and the then caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi approved a special summary initiated by Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar for an emergency grant of Rs210m for repair and maintenance of the bikes. On receiving the grant, Dolphin Squad SP Zohaib Nasrullah Ranjha hired 15 mechanics and got the bikes repaired at designated workshops.

Recently, the Dolphin Squad identified 540 hotspots of crime in all the six divisions of Lahore Police. Major hotspots were identified in the areas including some circles of Model Town and Cantt divisions, Shahdara Town, Kahna, Gulberg, Ghalib Market and many points in DHA. Two of them were located on Walton Road, the official said.

The hotspots were divided into 40 sectors and the Dolphin Squad deployed 365 motorbikes of a total 580 for extensive patrolling to prevent crime.

The official said 90 vehicles/cars of the Police Response Unit (PRU) were also being repaired. which would further improve the situation. After the Dolphin Squad increased patrolling at the identified hotspots, the crime rate decreased by 32pc, the official claimed.

He said the squad also fielded 12 teams of the Friendly Police Units (FPUs) on 24 bicycles ahead of Eidul Fitr. These teams have been deployed at Liberty Roundabout, Minar-i-Pakistan, Lahore Fort and some posh localities of DHA that are frequented by women and children. The police personnel of the FPUs were assigned the task to keep an eye on the suspects targeting the families. They would be in contact with the Safe City Authority and the central operations rooms for coordination.

On the other hand, as Eid drew close, the robbers intensified their criminal activities, targeting the citizens visiting shopping markets and depriving them of their belongings fearlessly in Lahore.

In a major hit a few days back, the robbers entered a jewellery shop in Bahria Town and took the shopkeeper Umair and others hostage at gunpoint. They looted gold ornaments, cash and other valuables worth over Rs9.5m and escaped. In the FIR, Umair said the robbers had disguised themselves as customers when they entered his shop. Moments later, they held up him and his employees at gunpoint and made off with jewellery, cash, ATM cards and other valuables.

Police also increased security, patrolling and pickets to counter street crime, particularly, in and around the major shopping markets in posh areas of the city. There were reports that the criminals took away 40 motorbikes from various parts of the city in recent days.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2024