Some of the heinous crimes, including terrorism and kidnapping for ransom cases, declined sharply across Sindh in the first 11 months of 2021 compared to the same period a year ago, but street criminals and other lawbreakers continue to haunt the law-abiding citizens, official police data obtained by Bol News revealed.
The number of terrorism cases, including grenade attacks, showed a sharp decline of more than 50 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2021, seven such cases were reported compared to 15 a year ago. These figures cover the reported crimes from January 1 to November 30, 2021.
The number of targeted killings were 10 in 2021 — unchanged compared to the first 11 months of 2020, but the number of murders rose by nearly 20pc to 1,577 from 1,316 reported in the corresponding period a year ago. Most of these murders were the result of personal enmities.
There was also a rise of 21.73pc in the number of extortion cases in 2021 to 168 compared to 138 reported the previous year. However, kidnapping for ransom cases declined by almost 10pc to 182 in 2021 from 202 reported till Nov 30, 2020.
There was also a sharp rise of 111.53pc in what the police describe as “crime against property” as a staggering 44,266 such offenses were recorded in 2021 compared to 20,926 in 2020. Similarly, under the heading of “crime against persons”, there was a rise of more than 14pc to 14,925 in 2021 compared to 13,085 a year ago.
The number of blasphemy cases rose by 42pc to 69 from 52 reported till Nov 30, 2020.
Karachi crime scene
The megacity of Karachi continues to be haunted by street criminals, yet in the overall world crime index, the city showed improvement in fighting crime and climbed 22 positions up to 127 in 2021 from 105 in 2020. Since 2014, when the city was infested by crime and terrorism and ranked at number six position, it shown a continuous improvement in fighting crime and terrorism thanks to the sacrifices of the law enforcement agencies including the police and the paramilitary Rangers.
Sharp rise in street crime
Police data shows a sharp rise in street crime incidents, which rose to 73,708 in 2021 compared to 59,114 in 2020. The street criminals snatched 22,595 mobile phones, 222 cars, and 4,261 motorbikes in 2021. The number of car and motorbike thefts were at 1,739 and 44,891 respectively.
In 2020, a total of 21,118 mobiles, 193 cars, and 2,372 motorbikes were snatched. The number of car and motorbike thefts in 2020 was at 1,507 and 33,924 respectively.
During the police patrols, the law enforcers had 309 ‘encounters’ with the criminals. They busted some 305 gangs involved in street crime, while 42 dacoits and other criminals were killed during encounters.
Police officials martyred
The data further revealed that in Karachi some 14 police officials were martyred in the line of duty in four major terrorist attacks on the law enforcement personnel.
According to the law enforcement agency no incident of political, ethnic and sectarian violence took place in the city in 2021, while the Karachi police has recovered 37 abducted persons besides arresting 71 accused persons. At least three accused were killed in ‘encounters’ with the police.
Narcotics
Some 8,349 raids were carried out on drug dens, where 13,651 accused were arrested in 2021, while 23kg ice and 59kg charas (hashish) was also confiscated by the Karachi police. Some 700,000kg gutka was also confiscated during the raids.
Gender-based violence
Some 147 cases of domestic violence resulting in murder were reported this year, while 177 cases of assault were also reported in Karachi. Some 13 girls were murdered during the year, while 30 cases of assault against girls and 21 minor girls were reported. Some 199 cases of rape, 13 cases of gang rape and 69 child abuse cases were also reported during 2021.
Administrative challenges
The Karachi police often complain about insufficient budget, fragile police infrastructure, non-availability of forensic chemical and ballistics labs, old fleet, old arms and equipment, and the shelved Safe City project, which remain the main hurdles in fighting crime.
Suggestions to improve performance
The Sindh police high-ups in their reports suggest that there are key points to develop efficient policing in the province such as having a better infrastructure especially in the katcha (rural) areas, the establishment of special protection units for the minority worship places, the Karachi Safe City project, Forensic Science Laboratory project, a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts, the installation of tracker device system in motorbikes and the provision of mini scanners to the Sindh police.
