Citizens left at mercy of robbers
The provincial capital appears to have turned into a haven for robbers who deprived citizens of valuables worth over Rs1.5 billion in thousands of incidents during the past four months.
The police record shows that an average of 300 incidents of theft and robbery have taken place daily in Lahore during the ongoing year.
The police have been busy in recent months with security for political activities, cricket matches and cultural events.
Meanwhile, street criminals and robbers enjoyed a field day in other parts of the city.
House robbers snatched about Rs42 million worth of valuables from citizens in dozens of incidents.
Criminals snatched more than Rs480 million in street crimes.
On April 19, at least 380 incidents of robbery and theft were reported in 24 hours. The robbers hit nine shops, snatched mobile phones, jewellery and cash from pedestrians in 21 incidents, while 272 incidents of theft took place in various city areas.
The official record shows that in 5,386 incidents since January 1, citizens were deprived of Rs1.52 billion.
Amid the change of government, former Lahore CCPO Fayyaz Dev was replaced for poor performance.
There reportedly had been complaints that all complaints of crime made on the police emergency helpline were not being registered.
The SHOs of several police stations in Lahore also resorted to avoiding registration of cases by rejecting applications summarily.
On the other hand, the police investigation wing succeeded in recovering only 2% of the looted property.
Dozens of thieves and robbers were arrested but only Rs177.97 million was recovered from them.
DIG Investigation Shehzad Sultan, who is the acting city police chief, said while speaking to The Express Tribune that unemployment and poverty were the main reasons for the increase in crimes. "Our justice system is not strong enough to keep dacoits in jail for long," he said.
Sultan added that the police had to work with other agencies to curb crimes.
DIG Operations Dr Abid Khan said Lahore police had not got any rest during the past three months. He said the police had been on duty day and night in political rallies cricket matches, Horse and Cattle Show and other events.
Police officers used to conduct search operations in different areas till late at night and return for cricket match duty after an interval of two to four hours.
Dr Abid Khan said that on the occasion of election of the chief minister in the Punjab Assembly, all the relevant police officers, including him, were present under the leadership of IGP Rao Sardar and ensured law and order despite strong reaction and protest.
In addition, full security was provided on the occasion of Easter.
The DIG said preparations for the Youm-e-Ali procession and the last days of Ramazan had been finalised.
He said the security of all markets had been beefed up along with checking on major roads across the city.
SSP Operations Mustansir Feroze said police had been placed on high alert across the city.
He said 270 crime pockets had been identified in the city, where patrolling by PRU and Dolphin Squad teams had been stepped up. Special pickets have also been set up for snap checking. Checking is also being carried out at the entry and exit points of the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2022.