LAHORE: The provincial capital has witnessed nearly 184 per cent surge in crime rate in the first eight months of this year compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

The massive increase was reported, especially in crime against property including robberies, dacoities and kidnap for ransom. It is evident from analysis of the crime cases registered by the Lahore police in the 84 police stations of the city during the first eight months of 2021 and 2022.

The official figures stated that the Lahore police had registered 3,733 cases during the first eight months of 2021 and the number rose to 10,598 during the same period of this year.

Elaborating on various categories of the crime, the data said the Lahore police had registered 3,347 cases of robberies from January to August 2021 and this number increased to 10,135, showing a considerable increase in this category of crime.

Similarly, 49 cases of dacoity were reported during the same period of last year and this number rose to 62 this year.

The murder during robbery is considered one of the most heinous crimes and the city has witnessed surge in this category too. According to the official figures, 19 such incidents were reported in the first eight months of last year and this number increased to 12 this year.

The increase in the murder incidents also sent an alarm in the provincial capital as 309 people were allegedly killed from January to August this year while the number of killings was reported 286 during first eight month of 2021.

The data showed that the Lahore police lodged six cases of gang rape during first eight months last year and this number increased to 15, almost double during the same period of 2022.

The multiple murder cases also increased this year as is evident from the official statistics of the Lahore police. It has registered 21 such cases during the first eight months of 2022 and this number was reported 17 during the same period of 2021.

The blind murder incidents have been a challenging task for police because in this category of crime the suspects used to be reported ‘unknown’. In most crime cases, the suspects would dump bodies of the murdered persons in canals, ponds and plots to conceal their identity/offence. The data showed that police recovered 18 dead bodies from various parts of the city during the first eight months of last year and this number increased to 23 during the same period of 2022.

Most disturbing aspect of the city’s crime was that this year five kidnap for ransom cases were lodged while no such incident was reported last year.

The murder of the ‘suspects’ in police encounters has been on the rise due to the controversial status of most of such police actions. The provincial capital witnessed a sharp increase in police encounters as is evident from the official figures of the police which showed 49 such incidents were reported during the first eight months of 2022. During the same period of last year, only 15 police encounters took place in the provincial capital.

Experts say police encounters occur when the suspects get some sort of relief from courts due to poor prosecution, a lack of evidence and many other such reasons. They say hardened criminals resume their activities after getting bails from courts due to poor conviction rate.

Officials say police cannot bring the crime rate down in isolation as it is one of the stakeholders of the criminal justice system. They say reforms are required in prosecution, judiciary and police to curtail crime.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2022