KARACHI: Following the unchecked rise in violent street crime in Karachi, Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh, on Thursday said his government has decided to banish immigrants who illegally crossed the border into the port city.
Reports of violence, stabbings and murders have hit the headlines in recent months, with daily occurrences in Karachi. But apparently, even the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) administration is clueless as to how widespread is violent crime, why is it growing, and who are the perpetrators.
The chief minister presided over a meeting, with heads of security agencies in attendance, where the focus was converged on the rising crime in the province, particularly the metropolis.
Shah urged the director general of Sindh Rangers, Maj. Gen. Azhar Waqas, to speed up province-wide intelligence-based operations (IBOs) and put suspected robbers behind bars. He also directed Sindh police to take strict action against people found involved in violent robberies.
“We will not allow terrorism to rear its ugly head again in the country, as the terrorists want to sabotage peace,” said the chief executive.
It was worth mentioning here that Karachi — although notorious for its pickpockets and bag snatchers since at least the arrival of the PPP in 2008 — has witnessed an alarming increase in street crime after the historic flooding completely submerged one-third of Pakistan.
Following the calamity, half of the criminals nabbed by police turned out to be people belonging to other parts of the country, mostly flood victims.
Street crime killed 385 across Karachi in 2018 and 393 people in 2021. At least 369 suspected killers were arrested until August this year.
In 2018, 2,211 vehicles were snatched and 26,846 stolen, and 15,678 reported armed robberies of mobile phones. Three years later, in 2021, 4,783 cars were snatched, 49,608 stolen and 25,000 cell phones snatched.
The police told the committee Karachi witnessed a sharp increase in street crime in recent months. They also claimed to have taken measures to improve law and order.
