SC calls police over increased thefts during traffic jams
Police officials blame muggings on bad roads and a lack of mass transit system.
Due to narrow lanes, traffic jams are a regular feature in Saddar. Lately, several residents have complained of people holding them at gunpoint to steal their cellphones and other valuables. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The city’s traffic jams have become even more dreadful than before now that its residents are being mugged at gunpoint.
Noticing the free rein enjoyed by street criminals, the judges have summoned police officials to explain why they have failed to manage traffic flows.
On Monday, a five member bench of the Supreme Court Karachi registry - comprising justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Khilji Arif Hussain, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Gulzar Ahmed and Muhammad Athar Saeed - raised this question during the hearing of the Karachi violence suo motu implementation case.
The large bench will be conducting the hearing on a day-to-day basis to examine the government and the police department’s progress on each direction given in the judgment on October 6, 2011. The chief justice of Pakistan initiated the suo motu proceedings in August 2010 following a particularly bloody summer in Karachi.
“We have no personal grievance against any department,” said Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who headed the five-member bench. “What we want is only the betterment of the department,” he told Sindh IGP Fayyaz Leghari and CCPO Iqbal Mehmood.
Several residents have approached the courts complaining about the frequent thefts that take place during traffic jams, which are a regular feature of Karachi.
Waiving a copy of one such complaint, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali told the police chiefs that armed gangsters on roadsides during traffic gridlocks snatch mobile phones and other belongings. This is happening in the presence of policemen, who are busy somewhere else making money, he remarked.
Leghari blamed the road muggings on the lack of a mass transit system. “Mr IG, we used to hear such tales during school days. Now, we cannot hear them anymore,” interjected Justice Khilji.
The CCPO also admitted that certain neighbourhoods have such problems but he blamed the poor condition of the roads, particularly in SITE, Mauripur and Lyari for this. Several street criminals are arrested by the police and weapons are also seized but they are bailed by the courts later, he added. At this point, the judges silenced him. The government has not passed an arms law to make such offences non-bailable, Justice Jamali remarked.
At this, the Sindh advocate-general Abdul Fattah Malik told the bench that the assembly had recently passed Sindh Arms Act, 2013. However, the judges questioned him further on why the bill had not been turned into an ordinance.
The court has asked the prosecution department to maintain records of criminals to help the prosecution successfully prove its cases, said Justice Jamali. Up to 90 per cent of the criminals who are imprisoned commit crimes after they are released but there is no mechanism to maintain their criminal history, he added. The CCPO informed the bench about the process of collecting fingerprints of suspects and their collection in a centralised database, which began in light of the apex court’s orders.
Unsatisfied with the progress, the judges questioned how the suspects of Shahzeb Khan’s murder case managed to escape abroad. “What is the Federal Investigation Agency doing?” asked Justice Jamali, pointing out that the officials have failed to produce even the security camera footages of the prime suspect. Mehmood tried explaining that they have a shortage of policemen due to the ban on fresh recruitments between 2000 and 2008. When 7,500 vacancies were approved, the appointments were once again banned by the election commission, he said.
Officials from the traffic police, public transport fitness department and the revenue department have been summoned today.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.
The city’s traffic jams have become even more dreadful than before now that its residents are being mugged at gunpoint.
Noticing the free rein enjoyed by street criminals, the judges have summoned police officials to explain why they have failed to manage traffic flows.
On Monday, a five member bench of the Supreme Court Karachi registry - comprising justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Khilji Arif Hussain, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Gulzar Ahmed and Muhammad Athar Saeed - raised this question during the hearing of the Karachi violence suo motu implementation case.
The large bench will be conducting the hearing on a day-to-day basis to examine the government and the police department’s progress on each direction given in the judgment on October 6, 2011. The chief justice of Pakistan initiated the suo motu proceedings in August 2010 following a particularly bloody summer in Karachi.
“We have no personal grievance against any department,” said Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who headed the five-member bench. “What we want is only the betterment of the department,” he told Sindh IGP Fayyaz Leghari and CCPO Iqbal Mehmood.
Several residents have approached the courts complaining about the frequent thefts that take place during traffic jams, which are a regular feature of Karachi.
Waiving a copy of one such complaint, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali told the police chiefs that armed gangsters on roadsides during traffic gridlocks snatch mobile phones and other belongings. This is happening in the presence of policemen, who are busy somewhere else making money, he remarked.
Leghari blamed the road muggings on the lack of a mass transit system. “Mr IG, we used to hear such tales during school days. Now, we cannot hear them anymore,” interjected Justice Khilji.
The CCPO also admitted that certain neighbourhoods have such problems but he blamed the poor condition of the roads, particularly in SITE, Mauripur and Lyari for this. Several street criminals are arrested by the police and weapons are also seized but they are bailed by the courts later, he added. At this point, the judges silenced him. The government has not passed an arms law to make such offences non-bailable, Justice Jamali remarked.
At this, the Sindh advocate-general Abdul Fattah Malik told the bench that the assembly had recently passed Sindh Arms Act, 2013. However, the judges questioned him further on why the bill had not been turned into an ordinance.
The court has asked the prosecution department to maintain records of criminals to help the prosecution successfully prove its cases, said Justice Jamali. Up to 90 per cent of the criminals who are imprisoned commit crimes after they are released but there is no mechanism to maintain their criminal history, he added. The CCPO informed the bench about the process of collecting fingerprints of suspects and their collection in a centralised database, which began in light of the apex court’s orders.
Unsatisfied with the progress, the judges questioned how the suspects of Shahzeb Khan’s murder case managed to escape abroad. “What is the Federal Investigation Agency doing?” asked Justice Jamali, pointing out that the officials have failed to produce even the security camera footages of the prime suspect. Mehmood tried explaining that they have a shortage of policemen due to the ban on fresh recruitments between 2000 and 2008. When 7,500 vacancies were approved, the appointments were once again banned by the election commission, he said.
Officials from the traffic police, public transport fitness department and the revenue department have been summoned today.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.