ISLAMABAD: The police registered a total of 25,324 criminal cases related to various criminal activities in the federal capital during the year 2025, official data shows.

The reported crimes included murder, attempted murder, dacoity, robbery, snatching, theft and vehicle theft.

Interestingly, the data shows that the police had received a total of 71,482 complaints, but a majority of them did not result in the registration of First Information Reports (FIRs), even though e-tags were issued to the complainants raising serious questions about underreporting of crimes in the federal capital.

According to police procedure, e-tags are issued after confirmation of a crime or illegal activity. Usually, a Dolphin Squad or patrolling unit is the first responder when information is received through the police helpline or other sources. After verifying the incident on the spot, the responding team informs the area police, which then reaches the location, records details and asks the victim to lodge a formal complaint.

An e-tag number is issued to the complainant after the complaint is registered to maintain a central database of crime statistics.

Zone-wise data shows that from January 1 to December 31, 2025, the City Zone police issued 16,845 e-tags but registered only 4,643 FIRs. In the Sadar Zone, 16,112 e-tags were issued, while only 5,900 FIRs were registered. The Industrial Area Zone issued 12,628 e-tags and registered 3,970 cases. The Soan Zone recorded the highest registration ratio, issuing 8,148 e-tags and registering 3,571 cases. Meanwhile, the Rural Zone issued 11,317 e-tags but registered only 3,947 FIRs.

No e-tags were found attached to several FIRs, including FIR Nos 2114, 2116, 2117, 2122, 2123, 2124 and 2125 registered at Khanna police station; FIR No 697 at Secretariat police station; and FIR Nos 461 to 470 registered at Kirpa police station.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Jawad Tariq and Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Ali Raza Qazi were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts over the past three days.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2026