From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Sindh apex committee, headed by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, has decided to take two-sided action to counter the rising menace of street crimes, as well as abductions for ransom of citizens by katcha (riverine area) dacoits.
According to n statement issued by the CM House on Monday, it has been decided to adopt special measures for monitoring of the sale of stolen or snatched mobile phones and vehicles as spare parts or in their complete form in the markets of Karachi.
Subsequently, the provicial chief executive also directed the police department to reactivate the Shaheen Force and revamp Madadgar-15.
Additionally, police pickets will be established to strengthen the left bank of the River Indus and contain the dacoits within the katcha area.
“The recovery of ransom from the families of the kidnapped individuals will be considered terror financing and the people involved in facilitating the collection of the ransom amount would be identified through intelligence work to crush them, “ CM Shah said while presiding over the 30th apex committee meeting.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon while briefing the meeting said that street crime particularly mobile snatching and four-wheeler and two-wheeler theft has decreased due to improved policing, however, the cases of four and two-wheeler snatching has shown slight increase.
Comparative figures for the first three months (January to April) of 2023 and 2024 indicate a decrease in the number of theft cases reported, the statement read.
In 2024, 15,345 two-wheelers were stolen which is 953 cases less than the 16,298 incidents reported in 2023. Similarly, the theft of four-wheelers decreased by 145 cases with 520 vehicles stolen in 2024 as compared to 665 in 2023.
The number of mobile phones snatched also showed a decline, with 6,813 cases reported in 2024 as compared to 8,688 in 2023, indicating a decrease of 1,875 cases. According to the statistics, there has been a significant increase in the snatching of four-wheelers and two-wheelers.
In 2023, 60 two-wheelers were snatched, and this number increased to 80 in 2024. Similarly, 1,805 two-wheelers were snatched in 2023, while the number of cases rose to 3,094 in 2024. However, the overall figures of street crime have shown a decrease of 1,613 cases.
In 2023, 27,680 cases of street crime were registered, while the number decreased to 26,067 in 2024. The meeting was reported that the police conducted 467 encounters in 2024. In these encounters, 67 criminals were killed, 489 were injured and 1,766 were arrested. The weapons recovered from the criminals included one SMG, 2,111 pistols, 30 rifles, seven shotguns and 18 grenades.
The chief minister instructed the provincial police chief to reactivate the Shaheen Force with a dedicated motorcycle squad of 386 motorcycles. The squad should patrol the identified hotspots during peak hours, and each SSP should issue and implement a patrolling plan.
Additionally, the police department was also directed to revamp Madadgar-15.
The home minister announced that an additional 168 vehicles, including 120 motorbikes, would be deployed to enhance the police force’s capabilities.
