KARACHI: The Sindh apex committee, headed by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, has decided to take two-fold action to counter the rising menace of street crimes, as well as abductions for ransom of citizens by katcha area dacoits.
A statement issued by the CM House on Monday noted that it has been decided to take special measures for monitoring the sale of stolen or snatched mobile phones and vehicles as spare parts or in their complete form in the markets of Karachi.
The chief minister also ordered the police to reactivate the Shaheen Force and revamp Madadgar-15.
Moreover, police pickets will be established to strengthen the left bank of the River Indus and contain the dacoits within the katcha area.
CM Shah said while presiding over the 30th apex committee meeting that the recovery of ransom from the families of the abducted individuals will be considered terror financing and the people involved in facilitating the collection of the ransom money would be identified through intelligence work to crush them.
Street Crimes in Sindh
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and Inspector General Police Ghulam Nabi Memon while briefing the meeting said that street crime, especially mobile snatching had dropped due to improved policing.
Comparative figures for the first 3 months (January to April) of 2023 and 2024 indicate a drop in the number of theft cases, the statement read.
In 2024, 15,345 two-wheelers were stolen which is 953 cases less than the 16,298 incidents reported last year. Likewise, the theft of four-wheelers dropped by 145 cases with 520 vehicles stolen in 2024 as compared to 665 last year.
The number of mobile phones snatched also showed a decline, with 6,813 cases reported in the current year as compared to 8,688 in 2023, indicating a drop of 1,875 cases.
E-tagging of Street Criminals
CM Shah instructed the police chief to start the e-tagging of repeat offenders. A pilot project should be started with four thousand devices, he said.
The IGP informed that rules have been formulated and standard operating procedures were being drafted for the e-tagging process. The meeting was informed that sixty-seven investigation officers had been assigned to cases of robbery with murder, robbery, and injury.
Anti-smuggling Operation in Sindh
Chief Collector Custom, South informed the meeting that from January to April, 642 seizures of smuggled goods worth 5184 million rupees have been made.
He said that the Rangers handed over 250 cases valued at 411 million rupees, the Police handed over 26 cases valued at 251 million rupees, and 190 cases valued at 3.303 billion rupees.
