KARACHI: It seems as if all police strategies to curb the increasing incidents of street crime have failed to work as armed muggers continued to operate with complete impunity, killing and wounding whosoever tried to put up some resistance in the city.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Karachi police chief Additional Inspector General Javed Odho said that during the first six days of the current month, 10 citizens were killed and 12 others wounded by armed robbers over resistance.

He said five suspected robbers were gunned down and 14 others arrested in wounded condition in 15 ‘encounters’ in the city during the same period.

According to official figures, a total of 1,217 incidents of street crimes have been reported from Aug 29 to date.

City police chief sets up Shaheen Force

Shopkeeper killed upon resistance

On Wednesday, a 50-year-old shopkeeper became the latest victim of street crime in the city.

Gabol Town SHO Amir Ali Khan said that armed pillion riders snatched two cell phones and over Rs10,000 from Abbas Ishaq in Sector-16/B near Faiz Masjid early on Wednesday morning. As he put up resistance, the muggers opened fire on him and fled along with the looted cash and phones.

He suffered critical bullet wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he died during treatment, the SHO said.

Man shot at, wounded

A 22-year-old man, who tried to help police in arresting armed robbers, was shot and wounded by them in Gulshan-i-Maymar.

Area SHO Bashir Wadho said Hikmatullah helped a police team chase the fleeing suspects in his car after they committed a robbery near Afghan Cut.

During an exchange of firing, the bullets fired by the robbers hit the young man. He was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) from where he was discharged after first aid.

300-strong force formed

City police chief Odho launched a new force comprising 300 policemen on motorbikes to curb growing incidents of street crimes in the metropolis.

“It has been decided to establish a motorbikes squad to control this wave of crimes,” he told the press conference. “Shaheen Force comprising 300 policemen on motorcycles has been reserved for fighting against the street crimes.”

The new force would be deployed in those areas where street crimes had increased, he said, adding that police were trying to install trackers on such motorbikes for law-enforcers’ monitoring.

Personnel of Shaheen Force have been provided bulletproof jackets, reflecting jackets, motorbikes, weapons and walkie-talkie seats in order to response to any untoward incident of street crimes immediately, he said.

“The Karachi police are striving to exercise all possible resources for protection of life and property of citizens,” he said.

58 killed over resistance since January

Sharing official data maintained by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), he said that from January 1 to Aug 31, total 58 people were killed and 269 injured while resisting robbery bids.

During the same period last year, total 54 persons were murdered and 235 others wounded by armed muggers.

The police said that as per CPLC data, street crimes have reduced up to 36.50pc during the last two weeks.

The data showed that from Aug 15-21, total 1,919 street crimes were reported in the city while from Aug 22-28 total 1,595 incidents of street crimes took place in various areas.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2022