Karachi police chief appeals to citizens not to resist robbers

Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police Jawed Alam Odho on Friday claimed the arrest of one of the two robbers who had shot dead on Thursday a student of the NED University of Engineering and Technology for offering resistance during a mugging bid.

Bilal Nasir, a 21-year-old engineering student at the petroleum technology department of the NED University, was gunned down within the limits of the Mobina Town police station when he offered resistance to two robbers who tried to snatch his mobile phone.

After the incident, the Karachi police chief formed an investigation team headed by the District East SSP. With the help of CCTV footage and other evidence, the police team raided a locality in Afghan Basti on Friday morning where after an exchange of fire, they arrested a suspect, Nizamuddin, in an injured state, while his accomplice managed to escape.

Later, during a media briefing, the Karachi additional IG said the police would soon apprehend the other suspect. Odho explained that Nizamuddin was a teenager and he lived in Jamali Goth. He added that the supect was an Afghan and he had illegally been living in Karachi.

According to the Karachi police chief, the suspect was also earlier arrested by the SITE Superhighway police in October with injuries but he obtained bail within 10 days and again started criminal activities.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers for Nasir were offered at the Jamia Masjid Aqsa in Federal B Area, after which he was laid to rest at the Sakhi Hassan Graveyard.

During the mugging bid, he succeeded in getting hold of one of the robbers, but the robber opened fire from a close range. The youth was shot in his chest and leg, killing him on the spot. He was the youngest among four brothers and lived in Dastagir Society in Federal B Area.

Speaking at the funeral, Nasir’s brother lamented that people were not safe from muggers in the city who would kill them just for mobile phones.

An official of the District East police said the Nizamuddin was arrested within 11 hours of the killing. He added that the weapon used in the crime had also been seized from the suspect who also confessed to being involved in other crime incidents.

Sexual assaults on children

During his press briefing, the Karachi police chief also discussed the rising cases of sexual assaults on children. He stated that during the last two months, there had been an increase in such incidents, and in some of them, children were also killed after being raped.

Odho said that during November and December, 22 incidents of sexual assaults on children were reported, and children were raped and killed in four of them. He added that the Karachi police had arrested 21 suspects involved in 19 of the reported incidents, and investigations in the remaining three cases was under way.

In the current year, 251 cases of sexual assault on children were reported, in which 10 children were killed. A total of 233 suspects involved in 225 of such incidents were arrested.

The Karachi police chief maintained that it was the police’s duty to arrest the criminals involved in such cases and bring them to justice. However, he added that the parents should also be vigilant in this regard as it had been observed that in many such crimes, a close acquaintance was involved whom children were not afraid of.

The officer said children must be taught which part of their body must not be touched by anyone except their parents. He added that parents should warn the children from an early age about the dangers in society.

2022 statistics

Regarding robberies and street crime in Karachi, Odho remarked that in 2022, the situation of robbery, dacoity and street crime had remained ‘stable’ with an overall increase of 7 per cent.

He remarked that the house robberies had undergone a decrease of 15 per cent. He said that in 2022 so far, 518 people were severely injured or killed during street crime, but in 2021, the figure was 522.

During the anti-crime actions, he said, 118 dacoits were killed and 937 injured in 825 police encounters. A total of 229 suspects, 82 extortionists and 44 kidnappers were arrested. As many as 7,036 drug peddlers and 2,043 Gutka vendors were also apprehended with a total of 175 kilogrammes of heroin, ice and other narcotics, and 9,000 kilogrammes of hashish seized. He said that if the economic situation of the country, unemployment and other factor were taken into account, the crime situation in Karachi was not as bad as it was generally depicted.

He maintained that the law enforcers had ensured Pakistan Super League matches, cricket series with West Indies and England, the international defence exhibition, anti-polio campaigns, Muharram processions, by-elections and other events of national and global significance conducted peacefully in the city during 2022. At the end of the press briefing, the Karachi police chief appealed to the citizens not to resist robbers.