Crime rates and figures: Filing FIRs without going to a police station now possible

AIG says they will set up a monitoring cell at the CPO for people to register complaints.


Faraz Khan December 16, 2014

KARACHI: Been mugged and don’t want to register the First Information Report (FIR) at your nearest police station to avoid the hassle of dealing with the police? Well, if all goes according to the Karachi police chief’s plan - you won’t have to.

With the Rs940 million e-policing project still in the process, the AIG has decided to take matters into his own hands and set up a monitoring cell at the Central Police Office. “I have decided to provide the residents of Karachi with an alternative to going to police stations to register FIRs,” said AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo. “Once the cell is set up, people can reach the team via telephone, fax and email.”

Just another number

Given Karachi’s violent nature, the city’s 110 police stations register just over 150 FIRs a day, which means that around 50,000 are registered every year.

This is, however, all a number game for the police where the goal is to ensure that they have the least reported crime in their respective areas. According to a source, this was one of the reason SHOs didn’t like to register cases.

“Depending on the number of FIRs registered at a police station suggests how bad the police of that area are at dealing with crime,” said an SHO, who did not wish to be named. “We try not to register FIRs as it can give an SHO a bad reputation and can have an impact on his postings in the future.”

Nagging and bribing 

Policemen often give simple excuses such as “stationary nahi hai” (there is no pen or paper) or “register photocopy k liye gaya hai” (register is out for Photostat) to avoid registering FIRs. Sometimes, in cases where a person’s phone or CNIC or car have been stolen, they agree to register FIRs but with a hefty price tag.



“This is not a shoe shop with a fixed rate on items,” said an ASI. “The price depends on the mood of the person incharge or the nature of the case. Sometimes we charge Rs50,000 for a job that is worth Rs100. In some cases, we charge nothing and end up paying from own pockets.”

To complain or not to complain?

According to a Karachi University teacher, she hopes she never has to go to a police station again. “I paid Rs3,000 to register a complaint for my missing CNIC at the Sachal police station last year,” she said. “Now my sister has to go register a complaint as well as she cannot apply for a new one till she has a copy of the police complaint. I am worried that I will have to go back to the police station for a copy of mine. My previous experience there was so bad that I don’t want to go again.”

Previously, the police had decided to use complaint boxes placed outside the offices of the district SSPs and divisional SSPs. However, this did not work out.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2014.

COMMENTS (2)

Kashif | 9 years ago | Reply Hi, in every country police is to help the citizen by getting fraud. buy unfortunately its become a pain to file a small FIR against bounced chqs. we have visited over 30 times to a police station and even given the requested bribe of 5000 yet its not being launched. and as per duty officer that i've done my job and can't guarantee about SHO decision. according to him he has forwarded a case to SHO and he rejected without any reason. I guess he is waiting for more bribe. Now we were asked togo to court and file the case. ALLAH, is there is any one loyal person left in the country Kashif
Parvez Amin | 9 years ago | Reply

The information in the article is a true reflection of reality. However effective countermeasures can be taken. ET contact me for details.

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