Rampant street crime in Karachi has claimed 100 lives this year

Karachi is yet to find respite from the menace of street crime, as 100 people have been gunned down by armed robbers in the city this year, spreading fear and a sense of insecurity among the people.

Ruthless muggers have been freely roaming the city, looting people and killing them over the slightest hint of resistance with impunity. Besides killing 100 citizens, robbers have also wounded more than 400 others since January 1.

Data gathered from different newspapers shows 24 people have been killed in Karachi’s District West, 23 in District Central, 19 in District East, 16 in District Korangi, nine in District Keamari, five in District Malir, and two each in District South and District City.

Residents of Karachi are losing confidence in the police, who they feel have failed to control the rising incidents of street crime. Robbers have not only been killing and injuring people, mostly young men, but also depriving thousands of residents of money and other valuables.

Incidents of street crime crossed 73,000 until October 31. This year has seen an increase in muggings and other such crimes by 11 per cent when compared to the 10 months of last year.

The situation in the city has turned from bad to worse, but the police continue to claim that everything is under control. The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee’s data shows exactly how the police have performed as regards curbing street crime from January to October this year.

From January to October last year 65,901 street crime incidents were reported, but in the corresponding period this year the number of such cases exceeded 73,000.

There has been an increase in car and motorbike thefts and snatching as well, with the officers of the Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell on the lookout.

However, no one knows where the car and motorbike lifters come from, where they go and how the stolen vehicles are moved out of the city.

According to the available statistics, last month alone 5,042 cases of motorbike thefts and 215 cases of car lifting were reported, while 2,232 mobile phones were also snatched from the city’s residents.

During the 10 months of this year items worth billions of rupees were looted from citizens, but the police apparently limited themselves to just paperwork.

Senior police officers have repeatedly claimed that the situation is better most of the time, but anyone leaving their house in the morning or returning home at night or sitting anywhere in public — not one person in the city is safe from robbers.

On November 11, briefing the media on police response against increasing crime rates, Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho had said the city was witnessing an alarming increase in street crime after flash floods hit different parts of the country, especially Sindh.

He said police had intensified action against rising criminal activities, adding that 736 police encounters took place this year, in which 176 criminals were killed and over 870 were injured.

Last month the Sindh police had launched the Talaash app to fight rising street crime incidents in Karachi with the help of modern equipment and by improving policing. The app was launched by provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon.

Speaking on the occasion, he said the Sindh police were increasing their capacity to ensure the prevention of crimes with the help of technology so that criminal elements, whether terrorists or street criminals, could not escape from the police.