ISLAMABAD: The capital police have registered at least a dozen cases of theft of railings, grills, benches, and other items from recreational sites and public places in the capital over the past three years.

This information was placed before the Senate by Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi in a written reply to a question asked by opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Humayun Mohmand during Tuesday’s sitting of the upper house.

Interestingly, the police record suggests that the actual number of theft cases is higher than what the minister reported in the Senate.

The details attached with the reply include copies of FIRs and reports from police diary which provides information about registration of only nine FIRs whereas three theft incidents have only been recorded in the daily diary.

According to data presented before the Senate, five cases of theft of public property have been registered with Margalla police station, two each at Karachi Company and Ramna police stations and one each at Aabpara, Shalimar and Industrial Area police stations.

Out of the five cases registered with Margalla police station, one is about theft of fences from F-9 Park in 2023.

The Karachi Company police registered two cases, including the one regarding theft of benches, dustbins, and even iron gates from G-8 and G-9 parks.

Similarly, Ramna police have registered cases regarding theft of grill panel and benches from G-10/1-3 park.

Aabpara police have registered a case regarding the theft of a bench from Rose and Jasmine Garden in 2023 whereas Shalimar police registered a case about theft of a grill panel and benches from F-10/4 Park in 2025. Industrial Area police registered a theft case of grill panel, benches and dustbin from I-8 Park in 2025.

Through the reply, the minister informed the Senate that the culprits had been apprehended on the spot and subsequently handed over to the police for initiation of legal proceedings.

However, the documents attached with the reply have some confusing information about the number of actual cases registered. Besides this, the reply also has no mention of the number of criminals arrested and what further action has been taken against them. The FIRs show that in many cases, the culprits were caught by the guards or the security staff and were later handed over to the police.

It may be recalled that more than 60 garbage bins and trolleys placed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) at various places in the city had reportedly been stolen in September 2023 and the police had registered four such cases. However, these cases have no mention in the minister’s written reply.

One of these cases was registered with Shahzad Town police station on September 13, 2023 over theft of 60 steel and galvanised garbage drums, worth Rs5 million to Rs6million. These items had been stolen from Rawal Town and Dhokri Chowk.

Another case was registered at Ramna police station on September 6, 2023, over the theft of 15 steel drums worth Rs100,000 from G-11 sector.

Another case was registered at Aabpara police station on September 7, 2023, over the theft of two garbage trolleys worth Rs200,000 from Embassy Road in G-6/4.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2025