KARACHI, April 30: A performance report of the police department received here on Wednesday reveals that 27 dacoits were killed in 146 encounters in the province between January 1 and April 15, 2003.

Of all the encounters, 65 took place in Karachi, 19 in Hyderabad and 62 in Sukkur. Fifteen bandits were killed in encounters in Karachi, four in Hyderabad and eight in Sukkur.

Police killed some of the most wanted dacoits. Notorious dacoit Ellaho Khoso was killed in an encounter on April 26 in the Sinjhoro police jurisdiction. Operating in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar he was involved in 27 cases of murder, dacoity and kidnapping for ransom.

Two more notorious dacoits, Saleh Halepoto and Abdul Razzaq, were killed by the villagers in the jurisdiction of the Tando Allahyar police. Halipoto was wanted in 22 cases of murder, kidnapping and dacoity.

In all, 570 dacoits were arrested; 436 in Karachi, 19 in Hyderabad and 115 in Sukkur. Three abductees were recovered in Karachi, one in Hyderabad and 22 in Sukkur. Police also arrested 1855 proclaimed offenders.

Police recovered a total of 1297 weapons and 14,713 rounds of bullets and cartridges from the three regions. The arms included Kalashnikovs, shotguns, pistols, revolvers and rifles. Five hand-grenades and dynamites were recovered in Karachi and two from Hyderabad region.

The report says that the overall crime rate has declined, as 12027 crimes were registered from January 1 to April 14, 2003, against the 14874 cases registered during the corresponding period last year, showing a difference of 2846 cases.

The improvement has been registered only in Karachi, excepting a slight improvement in Sukkur. The report notes that the crime rate in the Hyderabad region has increased.

In Karachi the crime graph registered a decline of 2934 cases during the above period, as 6071 cases were registered against the 9005 last year. In the Sukkur region 3283 crimes were reported last year and 3254 during three and a half months this year, showing a decline of only 28 cases. In the Hyderabad region, the crime figure rose to 2702 this year, against the 2586 last year.—PPI\APP