Year-to-date: Islamabad Police fail to unravel most murder cases

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad Police have failed to close most murder cases that occurred in the first four months of this year.

Data collected by The Express Tribune from different police stations of Islamabad from January 1 to April 30 shows that 38 people have been murdered in the federal capital, and most of those cases remain open, which raises a big question mark on the overall performance of the police.

Golra Police Station has seen six murders in its jurisdiction, followed by five murders in the Shahzad Town Police Station area, and four in the Aabpara Police Station jurisdiction.

Golra SHO Tanveer Abbasi claimed that they have resolved one case out of the six reported, but did not share information related to it, saying he had just assumed charge at the police station.

The Shahzad Town SHO claimed that out of the five murders, two have been resolved, while investigations into the remaining cases were under way.

The murder rate has risen significantly, as 62 murders were recorded in all of 2014, and 42 in the year 2013.

Similarly, 76 kidnapping cases were also reported in the federal capital. A police spokesman claimed that most kidnapping cases were related to girls eloping of their own free will. He said the police could not recover persons in such cases as the ‘missing’ persons often get married.

The Margalla Police Station topped the kidnappings list with 11 cases registered, followed by Bara Kahu with nine, Ramna with seven, and Shahzad Town and Shalimar with six each.

Also of interest is the fact that no murders or kidnappings were registered at the Women Police Station.

The data further shows that 140 robbery and burglary cases have been registered, with Shalimar Police Station leading with 17 cases reported in the first four months of the year, while Shahzad Town was close behind at 16.



Meanwhile, a total of 24 cases related to tampered vehicles were reported in different police stations, and Ramna led with six such cases.

A total of 242 illegal arms cases were registered, 40 of which were at the Margalla Police Station.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2015.