RAWALPINDI: More than 50 incidents of street crime, including the murder of a couple, theft of 23 motorcycles and two other vehicles, were reported to the police on Saturday.

A sharp increase in theft of motorcycles has been noticed with 1,106 two-wheelers stolen and 78 others snatched at gunpoint in the district so far this year compared to 943 and 57, respectively, in the corresponding period in 2021.

A newly-married couple belonging to Khyber district of KP was found murdered in their rented room at a brick kiln in Kallar Syedan on Saturday.

Mian Khan, a labourer, complained to the police that he had five sons and a daughter and that one of his sons, Mohammad Saeed, 24, married a girl of his choice in his native village and shifted to Rawalpindi along with his wife.

He said his son used to call him from time to time but never disclosed his location.

On Saturday, he said Malik Pervez, the owner of the brick kiln, called and informed him that his son along with his wife had been shot dead in their room by unidentified persons. He said he had no enmity with anybody. The police handed over the bodies to Mr Khan after postmortem and have registered a case.

Meanwhile, the police said Babar Shahzad and Syed Asad Abbas were robbed of a mobile phone and Rs7,000 by robbers in the Racecourse and Pirwadhai areas, respectively.

Mirza Noman Baig complained to the Cantt police that he was returning home with his wife from the Mall Plaza Saddar when two persons snatched a purse containing Rs150,000 from his wife.

Abid Hussain, a taxi driver, said three persons booked his cab for Gulistan Colony but robbed him of Rs6,500 and a mobile phone after taking him at gunpoint near their destination. He, however, he foiled an attempt to snatch his taxi.

Burglars broke into Mohammad Iqbal’s house in Gujar Khan in the absence of his family and stole Rs115,000, gold ornaments weighing 2 1/2 tola and electronic goods.

A woman complained to the Saddar Bairooni police that she was standing outside the basic health unit when two motorcycle riders appeared at the scene and snatched her purse containing Rs10,000, an ATM card and valuables.

Abdul Nasir, Abdul Malik, Hifza bin Faisal, Mohammad Bilal, Mohammad Khawar, Ismail Khan, Adeel Masih, Atif Baig, Mohammad Amjad, Anjum Faraz, Mohammad Hamid Nabeel, Saqib Yousuf, Malik Faizan, Zeeshan Rehman, Mohammad Asif, Saifullah, Mohammad Idris, Mohammad Irshad, Amad Kiani and Mohammad Rizwan complained to the police that their motorcycles were stolen in different parts of the city.

Meanwhile, Abid Hussain’s carry van was stolen from outside Nawaz Sharif Park while Mohammad Riaz’s rickshaw was lifted from Racecourse area.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2022