Street begging turns into organised trade

Police data revealed that a total of 827 beggars, including around 300 women, have been arrested this year, while 817 cases have been registered under the Vagrancy Ordinance 9.

Meanwhile, the Child Protection Bureau (CPB) has taken more than 600 child beggars into custody over the past nine months.

The rescued children were housed in protection centres for a few weeks before being handed back to their guardians - many of whom reportedly sent them back to the streets to beg again.

On Wednesday, police from People's Colony and Batala Colony carried out separate operations and arrested six beggars.

From January 1 to October 10, district police, traffic police, and the Child Protection Bureau conducted joint operations against beggars despite a provincial ban on street begging.

Data showed that Lyallpur Town Division Police arrested 345 beggars and registered 340 cases, submitting challans in 321 of them.