Police claim good show but crime stats say otherwise

ISLAMABAD: The police claim to be doing well but crime statistics suggest otherwise.

According to records compiled by the Islamabad Police, there have been more crimes this year as compared to the corresponding period last year. There were more burglaries, murder attempts, offences under the Zina ordinance. Also, more people were kidnapped — including those abducted for ransom. In all 15 police stations of Islamabad, more crimes have been recorded this year. According to statistics, the police have not been very successful in controlling crime this year.

However, SSP Operations Tahir Alam Khan rejected the claim. He told The Express Tribune that the police have been able to keep the crime rate at a considerably low level. “Due to better policing, we have been able to control crime. Only crimes such as burglaries and general thefts have risen slightly and there are many other reasons to explain this,” the SSP said. The haphazard and rapid growth of population settlements in the outskirts of the city is the main reason for the increase in the crime rate, he said.

“Crime will be difficult to control in Islamabad with every passing year because the CDA is not fulfilling its responsibilities. [It is not checking] the mushroom growth of unregistered and haphazard settlements, which are breeding grounds and hide-outs for criminals,” the SSP added. SSP Tahir Alam said the CDA and Islamabad Capital Territory administration should cooperate with the police to control the crime rate. These settlements must be monitored by the CDA, he said.

Member Administration CDA Mustafain Kazmi told The Express Tribune that the authority is not responsible for the outskirts. “Islamabad administration is responsible for regulating these areas. At our end, we are taking all possible measures to regulate areas under our jurisdiction,” he said. However, contrary to the SSP’s point of view, statistics show that most crimes happened in the areas covered by the Margalla and the Shalimar police stations — i.e. central areas of the city. The latter, based in Sector F-10, recorded the most crimes (213) out of all police stations. Margalla Police Station came in second with 204 crimes registered.

These two stations are located in the Saddar Zone, which has also been a favourite for carjackers this year. Out of 141 vehicles stolen so far this year, 59 were stolen from this zone. During the corresponding period last year, there were 150 cases of vehicle theft in Islamabad. There were 115 burglaries and general theft instances compared to 103 in 2009. There have been 43 cases relating to rape or kidnapping this year — there were 50 in the corresponding period in 2009. Six fewer houses were robbed this year. Although there were 24 murders compared to 31 in the corresponding period last year, instances of murder attempts increased from 31 to 40. Despite the presence of 104 checkpoints, there were 194 reports about the recovery of illegal weapons.