Street crimes on rise in Islamabad

Islamabad : In the first seven months of this year, street crimes in the federal capital significantly increased as compared to the corresponding period last year.

According to the written reply submitted by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in the National Assembly, the number of incidents in which dacoits snatched cash from the citizens was 42 from January 1 to July 23, 2020. But the number of such incidents has risen to 58 in the same period of the current year.

Similarly, the dacoits snatched jewellery in 13 incidents in the first seven months of last year. This year seventeen such incidents have been reported in different police stations of the capital city.

There were 41 mobile snatching incidents from January to July last year but this year 73 such incidents have been registered till July 23 in the police stations. The dacoits snatched nine cars at gunpoint from January-July 2020 and this year the number of snatched cars is 19. The residents lost 31 motorcycles in theft cases in the first seven months of 2020 while bike theft cases have risen to 51 in the corresponding period of 2021.

The purse-snatching incidents also witnessed an increase as the number of such cases was 7 from January-July 2020. This year these incidents increased up to 19 till July.

It is pertinent to mention here that a number of journalists also lost their cash at gunpoint and the culprits are yet to be nabbed by the police.

According to the police department, they introduced the Street Watchers System in the Islamabad Capital Territory to ensure protection to the lives and property of citizens and control crime through cooperation between the police and the general public.