Daily Times

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed to take measures to monitor the sale of stolen or snatched mobile phones and vehicles as spare parts or in their complete form in the markets of Karachi.

Chairing the 31th Apex Committee meeting here Monday, the chief minister said that police pickets would be established to strengthen the left bank of the River Indus and contain the dacoits within the katcha area. The recovery of ransom from the families of the kidnapped individuals will be considered terror financing and the people involved in facilitating the collection of the ransom amount would be identified through intelligence work to crush them,” the CM said. The meeting was held at CM House and was attended by provincial Minister Information Sharjeel Memon, Home Minister Zia Lanjar, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, DG Ranger Major General Azhar Waqas, PSCM Agha Wasif, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, Advocate General Hassan Akbar, Commissioner Karachi Hassan Naqvi, Adll IGP Karachi Imran Yakoob, Chief Custom Collector Mohammad Yakoob Mako, Water Board Chief Officers Asadullah Khan and other concerned officers.

The Home Minsiter Zia Lanjar and IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon briefing the meeting said that street crime particularly mobile snatching and four-wheeler and two-wheeler theft has decreased due to improved policing, however, the cases of four and two-wheeler snatching has shown slight increase.

Comparative figures for the first three months (January to April) of 2023 and 2024 indicate a decrease in the number of theft cases reported. In 2024, 15,345 two-wheelers were stolen which is 953 cases less than the 16,298 incidents reported in 2023. Similarly, the theft of four-wheelers decreased by 145 cases with 520 vehicles stolen in 2024 as compared to 665 in 2023. The number of mobile phones snatched also showed a decline, with 6,813 cases reported in 2024 as compared to 8,688 in 2023, indicating a decrease of 1,875 cases.

According to the statistics, there has been a significant increase in the snatching of four-wheelers and two-wheelers. In 2023, 60 two-wheelers were snatched, and this number increased to 80 in 2024. Similarly, 1805 two-wheelers were snatched in 2023, while the number of cases rose to 3094 in 2024. However, the overall figures of street crime have shown a decrease of 1613 cases. In 2023, 27,680 cases of street crime were registered, while the number decreased to 26067 in 2024.

The meeting was told that the police conducted 467 encounters in 2024. In these encounters, 67 criminals were killed, 489 were injured and 1766 were arrested. The weapons recovered from the criminals included one SMG, 2111 pistols, 30 rifles, seven shotguns and 18 grenades.

The Chief Minister instructed the IG Police to reactivate the Shaheen Force with a dedicated motorcycle squad of 386 motorcycles. The squad should patrol the identified hotspots during peak hours, and each SSP should issue and implement a patrolling plan.

Additionally, the police department was directed to revamp Madadgar-15.The Home Minister announced that an additional 168 vehicles, including 120 motorbikes, would be deployed to enhance the police force’s capabilities.

The Chief Minister instructed the Inspector General (IG) of police to initiate the E-tagging of repeat offenders. A pilot project should be started with 4,000 devices. The IG police reported that the Rules have been drafted and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being formulated. The meeting was informed that 67 Investigation Officers have been assigned to cases of robbery with murder, robbery, and injury.

The police have activated the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to investigate these cases. The Chief Minister also directed the IG police to upgrade the Command and Control Centre at the Central Police Office (CPO).