Contrary to police claims, street crimes continue unabated

While the operation that began in 2013 helped curb major crimes, it was not as effective for street crimes

KARACHI: The city has a street crime problem - one that has been allowed to grow relatively unchecked. While the Karachi Police Chief Dr Ameer Ahmed Sheikh claims that crime has been curbed, statistics on street crimes paint a different picture.

In just eight months of the current year, 42,398 incidents of street crime were reported. These include snatching and theft of cars, motorcycles, mobile phones and other incidents. At the beginning of the operation in 2013, the crime rate had decreased to 136 incidents per day, but the number of crimes reported per day now averages at 176.

The operation, which began in the city in 2013, continues to date. It considerably helped curb major crimes, such as targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom and murders, but has not been as effective in controlling street crimes. A five-year-long operation has not been able to break the network of criminals looting and plundering citizens in broad daylight.

According to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) report of 2013, the rate of murder incidents was 6.8, which decreased to 0.96 in 2018. Evidence suggests that there has been a decrease in incidents of kidnapping for ransom and extortion, but not street crime.

During the year 2013, 49,742 incidents of street crimes were reported and the rate of street crimes per day was 136. In 2014, reported incidents of street crime were 59,089, and the rate of street crimes per day was more than 161. In 2015, 62,267 street crime incidents were reported and the rate of street crimes per day was 170. In 2016, 60,343 street crime incidents were reported and the rate of street crimes per day was 165. In 2017, 58,502 incidents of street crimes were reported and the rate of street crimes per day was 160. As per the CPLC report during the first eight months of 2018, 42,398 incidents of street crimes were reported and the rate of street crimes per day was more than 176.

Around 968 cars were snatched in 2018, breaking all previous records. The report identifies ten areas of the city where most motorcycle snatching incidents took place.  A total of 595 motorcycles were snatched in Korangi Industrial area, 592 in Awami Colony, 587 from Zaman Town, 508 from Sacchal, 420 from Sharae Faisal, 412 from Gulshan-e-Iqbal, 388 from Preedy, 386 from Khwaja Ajmer Nagri, 372 from Korangi and 366 from Surjani Town.

According to the report, a total of 905 mobile phones were snatched from Sharae Faisal, 837 from Gulshan-e-Iqbal, 728 from Ferozabad, 667 from Korangi Industrial Area, 652 from Zaman Town, 644 from Aziz Bhatti, 560 from Paraidi, 511 from Taimuria, 466 from Azizabad and 456 from Sharae Noor Jehan.

As per the report, a total of 84 cars were snatched from Gulshan-e-Iqbal, 53 from Darakhshan, 52 from Sharae Faisal, 44 from Ferozabad, 43 from Sacchal, 42 from Gulistan-e-Johar, 34 from Taimuriya, 31 from Aziz Bhatti, 27 from Bahadurabad and Sharae Noor Jehan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2018.