ISLAMABAD: The capital police recovered looted and stolen cash and valuables worth over Rs643 million from January 1 to April 15 while citizens lost over Rs1.3 billion worth of cash and valuables in the same period.

The details were shared with Dawn by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Jawad Tariq in response to a query about the worth of cash and valuables looted or stolen in the current year. It said the police made a recovery worth Rs643,336,816 that included 124 vehicles and 269 motorcycles. Moreover, 553 members of 247 gangs of criminals were arrested and 1,556 suspects rounded up and 1,067 cases traced.

Criminals looted cash and valuables worth Rs1,392,923,610 during this period, it stated.

Police officers told Dawn that on an average criminals had been robbing citizens of over half a million rupees worth of cash and valuables every hour this year. In the first 105 days of the year, people lost more than Rs1,392,923,610 worth of cash and valuables - Rs13,260,224 per day and Rs552,509 per hour.

The looted or stolen valuables included gold ornaments, diamond, precious stones, vehicles, motorcycles, mobile phones, electronic items, household articles, edibles, animals and birds.

The actual worth of the looted or stolen items could be much higher as police refused to register at least 9,088 cases. They registered 6,551 cases against 15,639 complaints filed by citizens.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025