• Official data shows 80pc increase in killings compared to same period last year
• Number of encounters surged by 71pc in 2026 compared to 2025
• HRCP chief describes deaths of suspects in encounters as ‘extrajudicial’ killings
• Police claim all encounters are genuine; say law enforcers also suffer casualties

KARACHI: Police in Karachi killed around 200 suspected street criminals in alleged encounters over the past 10 months, an 80 per cent increase from 109 killed during the same period last year.

The surge in killings has raised concerns among human rights groups, which described the incidents as extrajudicial killings.

However, senior police officials insisted that all the encounters between bandits and law enforcers were genuine, noting that several police personnel also suffered bullet wounds and, in some cases, embraced martyrdom.

Official data does not cite the number of law enforcers wounded in the 1,437 encounters that took place between Jan 1 and Oct 25 this year.

The data maintained by Karachi police shows that besides killing 197 suspects, police encounters left 1,426 others wounded — a 67.9pc rise from 849 arrested in wounded condition during the same period last year.

There was also a 71pc surge in the number of police encounters in 2026, compared to 840 in the corresponding period last year.

Encounters won’t improve security situation: HRCP

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt told Dawn that they considered deaths of suspects in encounters as “extra-judicial killings”.

Describing this as an “ailment” that had affected the Punjab police, he said it seemed it was now spreading to Karachi.

He said the HRCP had recently conducted fact-finding in Punjab, where during an eight-month period, 1,000 suspects were shot dead in alleged encounters.

He recalled that when the terminology of “full fry and half fry” was introduced in the recent past, crimes had not decreased, but instead increased.

The HRCP chief said it would not bring improvement in the security situation as crimes could be curbed by “improving policing, carrying out investigations on a scientific basis and introducing judicial reforms”. He said when a suspect was killed in an alleged encounter, it meant the state’s trust in the judiciary had ended.

‘Proactive policing’

Dawn sent questions to Karachi police chief Azad Khan asking about the reasons behind the surge in “encounter killings”, whether there are any standard operating procedures following the death of a suspect in a police encounter, and whether, and how many, inquiries had been conducted. However, he did not respond even after a week.

When contacted, two senior police officers, who wished not to be named, claimed that all killings of suspects in encounters were genuine as such actions were taken on main roads on complaints of robbery victims.

They said a spike in street crimes was witnessed in October, but it was difficult to attribute it to any single reason. This prompted the police to review their strategy to control the growing crimes. As part of the revised strategy, the number of personnel deployed for the Shaheen Force was increased.

Initially, they said, the Shaheen Force was active in District Central only, but it has now been activated in other districts as well with the deployment of more policemen. Police patrolling and snap-checking in purported hotspots of street crime were also enhanced. The officers said these measures had led to an increase in encounters with suspected robbers.

They refuted allegations of staged encounters and said the upsurge in such incidents was due to increased patrolling on roads.

‘Time to revamp criminal justice system’

Citizens-Police Liaison Committee chief Zubair Habib told Dawn that time had come to ‘revamp’ the whole criminal justice system to prevent such encounters by bringing police and prison reforms as well.

He said deterrence against criminals would be created only when a criminal realised that he would be caught and punished.

The CPLC chief said that all over the world, crimes were ‘decreasing’ because of the use of modern technology. He believed that Karachi police had also brought some improvement, particularly in the investigation of murder cases, with the use of technology.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2026