In two months: Rural zone reports over 45 muggings, burglaries

SP Rural claims crime rate in the zone has fallen during this time

ISLAMABAD: The past two months in the rural areas of the capital have been quite violent with at least eight murder cases and 48 incidents of snatchings and burglaries reported.

According to a police report, the rural zone reported eight murders, 22 snatchings, and 26 burglaries, apart from a dozen cases of general theft between January 1 and March 19 this year. Moreover, as many as 11 cars and 12 motorbikes were also stolen in the area during this period, the report said.

A total of 304 criminal cases were registered at six stations in the zone. Of these, police said they had completed investigations in 153 cases while they were still working on 144 cases.

Moreover, seven first information reports filed were dismissed.

Police said stolen property worth Rs30.5 million was recovered during the period.



During this time, police said they had arrested a total of 283 suspects including 36 proclaimed offenders and 53 court absconders.

Of the eight murder cases, however, police said they had completed investigations in only one case thus far. Similarly, investigations into 18 cases of mugging and 22 cases of burglary are still pending at the precinct level.

Of the 11 cars and 12 motorbikes stolen, recoveries were made in only three cases.

Moreover, police have yet to make headway in some high-profile cases which took place in the rural zone including an assault and abduction bid on a journalist by unidentified gunmen near the Koral Chowk on January 10.

Similarly, two street criminals, who had snatched Rs1.05 million from a university student at gunpoint near Ghauri Town Phase-II on March 1, are still at large.

“Police have done nothing. They have made no arrests so far. I have visited the Koral police station countless times but police have come up with nothing yet,” the snatching victim told The Express Tribune.



Also, the number of reported cases does not accurately reflect on the true incidence of crime rate, since not every complaint is reduced to FIR register. Getting a case registered with the police remains a cumbersome process and sometimes police sit on complaints for weeks before registering an FIR.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, SP Rural Hassam Bin Iqbal claimed that the crime rate in the rural areas of the capital had fallen over the past two months.

“There has been only one case of robbery reported in the entire zone, and that too has been traced,” SP Iqbal claimed, adding that the “recovery of stolen property worth over Rs30 million in just two months is more than the average.”

Asked about the FIR registration process, he said that action was taken on every complaint.

“FIRs were registered on almost every complaint we receive because lodging an FIR is the right of every citizen who is a victim of crime,” the SP contended.

The rural zone makes up one of the four policing zones of the capital. It comprises six police stations including Koral, Khanna, Sihala, Nilore, Lohi Bher and Shahzad Town. Supervised by a senior police officer of SP rank and three DSP and ASPs, the zone is often among the areas with the highest incidence of crime in the capital. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2018.