Ongoing crackdown: Police cast net wide, arrest 300 beggars

Terrorist outfits use such children to help carry out suicide attacks: DIG Sultan Azam Temuri.

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to overcome street crime and the menace of terrorism, the Islamabad police have expedited the crackdown on beggars including women and children, claiming they are being used by terrorists to carry out subversive activities.  

“The drive has been launched keeping in view the menace of terrorism as some terrorist outfits kidnap children, indoctrinate them, and then use them to carry out suicide attacks,” Headquarters Deputy Inspector General of Police Sultan Azam Temuri told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

He said that gangs in Rawalpindi have employed poor women and children for begging. “These gangs have their dens in Rawalpindi and they drop beggars in the commercial markets of Islamabad every day to seek alms from citizens,” he said.

Over 300 beggars have been arrested since the drive was launched on March 27.

Some of the arrested beggars, who include children, have been sent to a government institute for counseling, while others have either been fined or sent to Adiala Jail.

Temuri further said that they were planning to involve a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to offer technical training to the beggars to turn them into productive citizens.

He said it was not entirely possible for the police to ban their entry into the city. “By involving an NGO, we are trying to find a way to curb street crime, robberies and terrorist activities in the city,” said the DIG.

Temuri said that juvenile begging falls under child labour laws.

“The drive aims to take the professional beggars to task as begging has become a profession,” he said.

However, the DIG lamented that, “When we send these children to the government institute for counseling, their parents turn up and take them back.”

He said the Islamabad police will also remain in contact with their opposite numbers in Rawalpindi to take strict action against beggary gangs based there.

Recently, a Criminal Investigation Agency report suggested a ban on the entry of such beggars into Islamabad.

The report said that criminals including men, women and teen-age children disuse themselves as beggars and were involved in theft and robbery cases in the city. “These gangs exploit the poverty issue and force poor children to beg,” it said.

The report said that these beggars roam the streets to observe activity at targeted houses before committing robberies.

It said gangs identify houses with the help of these children before carrying out robberies in many posh areas of Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2013.