‘Crime rate in cities likely to go up’

RPO Sukkur believes criminals, disguised as flood survivors, have entered major cities.


Express October 22, 2010

SUKKUR: Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sukkur Syed Zulfiqar Shah is foreseeing an increase in crime rates since the floods due to an influx of criminals in the cities.

During a press conference at DPO Office Sukkur on Thursday, he said that the police have formed a strategy for monitoring, checking and patrolling sensitive areas.

The Sukkur police have been put on high alert, following the home minister’s directives after Karachi’s violence, said Shah. Many criminals, who were previously in hiding, have taken the guise of flood survivors as they too have lost everything, he said, adding that the police have everything under control and they are monitoring relief camps.

During the one month between September 15 and October 15, Sukkur police killed one bandit and arrested 111 suspects. Out of these, four bandits carried a head money of Rs6.5 million, according to the RPO. Two policemen were killed and three were injured during this period, he added.

The police also caught 136 wanted criminals and 553 absconders along with seven Kalashnikovs, nine rifles, 51 shotguns, nine revolvers, 131 pistols and several bullets.

In this month, 22 people were kidnapped from the Sukkur region and 18 of them were recovered. Patrolling on the highways has also been intensified to control highway robberies. The culprits, arrested on charges of damaging the railway track, will be produced in the Anti-Terrorism Court, Shah added.

The police force in Sukkur region needs at least 5,000 more personnel, he pointed out, adding that recruitment ads have been places in newspapers. A separate force will be formed for VIP duties to avoid disturbances in the general force whenever an official visits town, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2010.

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