Matiari residents fearful as robberies spike

Some citizens blame police for inability to maintain law and order, others accuse them of collusion

HYDERABAD: With crimes spiking in Matiari due to an alleged failure of the police to maintain law and order, the residents, confined to their homes amid the lockdown, have been left fearful of the spectre of break-ins at their homes and theft at their shops.

In the past month, dozens of robberies have occurred in various areas of the small district. Some citizens and traders blame the police for their failure in fighting crime, while others level accusations of connivance against the law enforcers. On April 23, robbers burgled cash, jewelry and other valuable items from the residence of a relative of a judicial officer. A trader's cloth shop was also looted on the same day. Another robbery occurred at a shop located near the local police station on April 21.

Meanwhile, vehicle theft, especially of motorcycles, has also increased.

"The post of a station house officer who was suspended by the Hyderabad DIG [Naeem Ahmed Shaikh] after the incident of the escape of 16 members of the Tableeghi Jamaat is still vacant after several weeks," said a police official, who requested anonymity, pointing out that SSP Asif Bughio was managing police affairs in the area.

Taking notice of the rise in crime, Sindh Revenue and Relief Minister Makhdoom Mehboob Zaman, who belongs to Matiari, has directed the SSP to immediately contain the incidence of crimes in the area. "… monitor, evaluate and streamline Matiari's currently declining law and order situation and crime," a letter addressed to the SSP by Zaman reads.

Citing kabaddi matches held in the early days of the lockdown as well as the escape of suspected coronavirus patients and rising crimes as some of the failures of the district police, Zaman directed the police to strictly enforce the lockdown.

The police have been asked to submit a progress report on all crimes committed during the last month to the minister, as well as to the media, within five days.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2020.