Crime surge touches alarming level in Rawalpindi

Islamabad: In Rawalpindi the criminals have become berserk, the police force is nowhere to be seen and the police bosses are falling deeper and deeper in a blissful slumber.

And those men in uniform, who could be seen active, are faced with serious allegations of either being involved in criminal activities themselves or patronising and protecting the criminals.

Amidst the circumstances, people seem to have been left at the mercy of these ruthless criminals who are ruling the roads and streets of Rawalpindi day and night. It was not far back in the past that this scribe warned that the situation of street crime has been on the rise at an alarming rate and soon there would be times that people will forget as to what was happening in Karachi.

Unfortunately no appropriate measures were adopted to control that surging wave of crime. Instead, the Rawalpindi Police posed as if it was their main responsibility to fight terrorism and check the suspects. That, incidentally, turned out to be the easiest ploy of extortion for the police.

A brief glimpse on the competitive performance for the years 2016 and 2017 shows that there was a tiny decline in the cases reported during 2017 as the number stood at 18,132 as compared to 18,393 reported in the year 2016.

But the number of accused in different cases at large jumped to almost double to 8,440 in 2017 as compared with 4,755 during the year 2016. This clearly shows the amount of interest the Rawalpindi Police has been putting in to fulfil their responsibilities.

One must keep in mind too that the people who have lodged complaints against the ‘accused at large’ are extremely vulnerable and living a fearful life as long as those who have hurt them once was still lurking around them out there in the society.

And one should also keep in mind that the reported cases are generally considered to be only 10 per cent of the actual crimes taking place. A vast majority of victims of criminal activities prefer to keep quiet because they hardly can afford to get embroiled in the cruel, unfriendly and threatening policing system.

The people living in the area falling in the jurisdiction of the New Town Police Station have always been particularly remained vulnerable. Recently the 6th Road, the 5th Road and the link roads and streets in-between have become the most favourite hunting ground for the street criminals.

It was only a couple of days ago that four thugs riding motorbikes tried to stop a man driving the car with their intentions very clear as they were brandishing firearms at the man, trying to make him stop the car.

However, the man in utter desperation rammed the car in their motorbikes on which they opened fire and managed to flee away. And the incident happened hardly half a kilometre away from the New Town Police Station.

A few days back, apparently the same group of criminals managed to snatch a car from a family, took away their cash and valuables including cellular phones and fled. This incident happened hardly a couple of yards away from the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the circle.

Not only these criminals snatched the car and valuables from the victim family, they continued to loot others using the same car as they drove off towards up the road! It may be recalled that about two years ago one young computer engineer, working with a national newspaper was killed in a mobile snatching incident on the street linking 5th Road to 6th Road.

This has been a widely known fact that this particular area, the jurisdiction of the New Town Police has been notorious for being the most lawless area in Rawalpindi, yet the police bosses have never tried to take appropriate measures for crime prevention and control here.

We would hate to speculate but can’t help to go along with the general perception that corruption and abuse of power has blown out of proportion in Rawalpindi Police. The epaulets, belt, and the stick have become the source of intimidation and coercion instead of help and relief.

A majority of victims, particularly falling prey to the street crimes, like mobile phone, purse and jewellery snatching, forcibly or at gun-point, or the cases of harassment, prefer to stay away from police stations only because of the unfriendly and hostile attitude of the police and the cumbersome procedure that is involved.

But the silver lining in the dark clouds is that if an honest officer is occupying a top slot in the department, he or she can induce a change in the system. For Rawalpindi we have noticed at least two such honest and hardworking officers who have already stamped their mark and the performance of the force under their command has improved.

One is the Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations), Mohammad Bin Ashraf and the other the Superintendent of Police (Potohar), Syed Ali. These two young officers have set a few examples already as the murderers of two private cab drivers were tracked and arrested while the crime prevention and control situation has improved in the jurisdiction of ‘Potohar Circle’.

The efforts and dedication shown by these two officers indicate that the things could be changed if there is a will to change. The individuals do matter and that is what these two officers have proven. If the whole Punjab police department may take to their footsteps we have reason to believe that we can have an ideal society in which people can live in peace.