According to the citizens caught in the roadblock, they had phoned the police helpline but it could not reach the location in time…reports Asian Lite News
In what can be termed as the biggest street crime incident of the year so far, a group of robbers looted over 100 people on Saturday on the Korangi Causeway in Karachi, Express Tribune reported.
Ten to 12 robbers reportedly set up roadblocks to trap vehicles and proceeded to rob the people with relative ease and appeared to not be afraid of police and rangers.
According to the citizens caught in the roadblock, they had phoned the police helpline but it could not reach the location in time, the report said.
Moreover, the police not only denied the incident but also failed to register an FIR.
Talking to the Express Tribune, a citizen said that the city “has been handed over to robbers” and that the performance of police, rangers and other law enforcement agencies responsible for the protection of life and property has been “reduced to zero”.
Earlier this week, a senior producer working for a private TV channel was shot dead during a botched robbery in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area.
Athar Mateen was gunned down after he rammed his vehicle into the bike of alleged robbers who were looting a citizen, said the police.
As the alleged robbers fell down, they fired shots at the vehicle, killing the media worker, said SSP Central Rana Maroof.
The suspects managed to flee after the incident on a bike snatched from a citizen while leaving their bike behind, the SSP added.
SHO removed
After several passengers were robbed during a traffic jam on a route in Karachi’s main Korangi Causeway on Saturday night that caused social outcry, a station house officer (SHO) was removed on Sunday.
East Zone DIG Muquddus Haider said that the Korangi Industrial Area SHO was removed as directives had been issued for the permanent deployment of police mobiles at the spot where the citizens, mostly motorcyclists, were looted on Saturday night.
“But the [police] mobile was missing,” he said.
In response, directives were issued for the permanent deployment of two police mobiles at street crime “hotspots” on Karachi’s main Korangi Causeway, reported Dawn.
Karachi has seen an increase in incidents of street crime recently with growing complaints from all segments of society. Society is also calling out the security administration for its failure to curb such incidents.
Previously, the Sindh government had abruptly removed the Karachi police chief, Additional Inspector General Imran Yaqoob Minhas, after only nine months on the post and replaced him with his predecessor, Ghulam Nabi Memon.
Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday blamed the country’s financial situation for the rise in street crimes in Karachi.
He said that the economic conditions in the country are the reason for the worsening crime situation in the city. He stressed that people, because of these conditions are “forced” to resort to such crimes, reported Dawn.
The chief minister further maintained that the worsening law and order situation was a problem afflicting most cities of the country and not limited to Karachi. He said that the only reason that Karachi received more attention was because it is a major city. (IANS/ANI)
