Poor show: Thousands of offenders, absconders on the loose

Interior minister admits capital police failing to arrest suspects

ISLAMABAD: More than 7,000 proclaimed offenders and court absconders are wanted to the capital police in various cases over the past several years, the Senate was informed on Thursday.

In response to a question, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan revealed in Parliament that 3,927 proclaimed offenders and 3,623 court absconders are wanted by the Islamabad Police.



Pakistan Peoples Party Senator from Balochistan, Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, had sought the complete break up of proclaimed offenders and court absconders wanted in Islamabad for the past several years. The minister, while giving details, informed the house that FIRs had been registered against 3,927 proclaimed offenders in 18 police stations of the capital. The accused were involved in various crimes like murder, rape, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and cheque dishonouring, among others.

According to the minister, Margalla Police Station tops the chart with 683 proclaimed offenders, Kohsar Police Station is on the second with 582 and Shalimar Police Station on third place with 404.

When contacted, Margalla SHO Ghulam Muhammad Baqir admitted that the figure of his police station is high and the main reason is that it covers a huge area. He said six sectors fall under the jurisdiction of his police station therefore, registration of cases are high because of the high crime ratio.

While justifying the police station’s performance, the officer claimed that crime is a natural phenomenon which happens in developed countries, “But we need to frame new rules so culprits could be arrested and action taken against them”, he claimed. The officer said the police rules made in 1861 were in practice and they should be amended to suit the times.

Syed Sajad Haider, the Koshar SHO, however, is unaware of the reason for not having arrested the accused. He admitted that corruption, incompetence and political influence are the reasons for their failure to arrest the suspects.

Breakup 

Police stations	Proclaimed offenders	Court absconders
Aabpara	235	328
Kohsar	582	538
Secretariat	125	265
Shalimar	404	208
Women	46	113
Tarnol	187	274
Golra	147	216
Ramna	177	147
Margalla	683	445
Sabzi Mandi	228	233
Industrial Area	261	205
Bhara Kahu	154	104
Shahzad Town	246	218
Koral	165	123
Nilore	33	9
Sihala	24	195
Bani Gala	81	2
Lohi Bher		-
Total	3,927	3,623

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2014.