Islamabad police rounds up nearly 11,000 beggars
As part of a crackdown against professional alms seekers and their handlers, police in the federal capital have arrested as many as 10,988 beggars during the ongoing year, a police spokesperson said on Thursday.
Following directions of Islamabad Police DIG-Operations Waqaruddin Syed, special teams have been constituted to ensure that professional beggars and their handlers are apprehended and are subject to a legal process by registering first information reports (FIRs) against them.
DIG Syed said that they will take strict action against beggars found loitering around commercial centres, signals and other business areas.
Apart from those arrested, a `Qalandara' was compiled against 702 women, 511 men and 32 people who are transgender. Moreover, a total of 78 cases were also registered against them which were later forwarded to the relevant courts.
A total of 129 children were shifted to Child Protection Centre while some 2,941 boys, 1,788 girls, 2,797 men, 1,882 women and 206 people who are transgender involved in begging were shifted to an Edhi Home.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2020.