Unemployment, drug addiction blamed for rising street crime

Additional IG promises that police will do its best to tackle mugging menace

KARACHI:

Karachi Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Memon blamed drug addiction and unemployment for the spike in street crimes and said that the police have accepted the challenge to tackle this problem.

The Additional Police Chief Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon called on Chief Justice Ahmad Ali Sheikh at Sindh High Court. Talking to the media after the meeting, Memon said that the death of journalist Athar Matin has saddened him.

Police will make every effort to arrest Matin's killers. "We will do our best to arrest the killer of Athar Matin." He said.

"Our policy on street crimes is clear. Police should do their best, make good cases for the prosecution, check the old record of street criminals and identify them," he said explaining the police procedures, trashing the notion of encounter to eliminate criminals.

Intelligence-based operations should be carried out in the shanty towns and illegal settlements where street criminals hide. The rising unemployment is also playing a factor in street crime. the Additional IG said.

AIG Memon said that as part of Sindh Police policy, the non performing station house officers (SHOs) would be removed from their positions and no any kind of negligence would be tolerated in registration of cases.

The Karachi police chief said SHOs delaying the registration of cases would face strict departmental action.

Drug addiction, He said drug addicts were committing street crimes in the city. There was a dire need to establish rehabilitation centers for the treatment of drug addicts.Ghulam Nabi Memon in his meeting with a bureau chief of a private news channel said a committee headed by Deputy IGP-West Zone had been constituted to investigate the killing of a journalist Athar Mateen by firing of street criminals. He said SSP Special Investigation Unit and SSP Central had also been nominated as members of committee. Criminals involved in killing of Athar Mateen would be arrested soon. Karachi Police Chief also offered fateha for the departed soul.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2022.