14 people mugged in March

Capital police reported 39 muggings last month


Arsalan Altaf April 16, 2018
PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a resurgence of violent street crime in the capital, at least 20 people were mugged while 19 houses burgled during March.

Valuables worth millions of rupees were looted in these incidents.

Police documents show that at least 20 mugging incidents were reported across the capital, however, as many as 14 of them were at gunpoint. These figures do not include cases of general theft and pick-pocketing.

The Golra police station reported four snatching and mugging cases, while three cases each were registered at the Tarnol and Khanna stations.

The Sabzi Mandi and Lohi Bher police also reported two muggings each during this period.

One case each was registered at Industrial Area, Bani Gala, Noon, Kohsar, Karachi Company and Koral police stations.

Dozens of unidentified street criminals were booked in all these cases.

In the three mugging cases registered at the Khanna police station, the victims described their assailants to be two armed youngsters who robbed them of their motorbikes.

Two of these incidents took place on a single day, March 7, at an overhead pedestrian and cyclist bridge on the Expressway near Iqbal Town.

In another incident, four armed men took two motorists hostage. The two men were sitting in their car working on a laptop in Sector G-13/1 on March 16 when the gunmen jumped them. The assailants forced themselves into the driving seat of the car, started the vehicle and took off with the men still in it.

After snatching all the cash, mobile phones and other documents from the two men, the armed assailants dropped the men off and sped away.

Apart from the 20 muggings, at least 19 houses and offices were also burgled by unidentified burglars in March.

The Sabzi Mandi precinct accounted for four burglaries, Lohi Bher station stood second with three such cases, while the Khanna and Shahzad Town stations reported two cases each.

Cases of house burglaries and break-ins were also reported within the jurisdictions of Aabpara, Bhara Kahu, Margalla, Noon, Sihala, Kohsar, Karachi Company and Shalimar police stations last month.

When asked about the high incidence of street crime, police officers blame ‘certain gangs’ active in these areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2018.

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