Street crime continued to plague Karachi in 2016

KARACHI: The menace of street crime continues to plague the metropolis even after years of an ongoing operation to curb crime in the city was launched. 

According to statistical data on various crimes reported in Karachi, maintained by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), over one thousand mobile phones were snatched in any given month with the highest in January 2016 when nearly 1,600 mobile phones were snatched. Similarly over 1,400 mobile phones were stolen in any given month of 2016. 

According to sources there are certain hotspots where street crime continues unabated, they include areas between Golimar and New Karachi, Liquatabad to Yousuf Plaza, Kala Pul to Korangi and Defence Library, Gulshan-e-Iqbal (Sabzi Mandi) to Malir Cantonment.

Since crime stats for the month of December are only available till the 15th of the month, they have not been included in the infographic table below. However the totals do reflect the numbers reported by the CPLC for the eleven months preceding and the 15 days of December. 

Vehicles and Motorbikes

According to the CPLC data, till the 15th of December 14,974 people were deprived of their mobile phones at gunpoint while 17,790 mobile phones were stolen. On average about 15 vehicles were snatched per month with the highest in November when 23 vehicles were reported snatched. The year also saw nearly 1,500 cars stolen, 2,342 motorbikes were snatched while 21,028 motorbikes were stolen. 

Kidnappings and Extortion

Before the operation in Karachi, the menace of kidnappings for ransom, short-term kidnappings and extortion was running rampant. While the frequency of kidnappings has gone down sharply with only 20 kidnappings reported during 2016, the number of extortion cases reported stood at over 100 with the highest number of cases reported in August. 

Bank Robberies/Dacoity

During 2016, 12 bank robberies and dacoities were reported. However interestingly ten of these were reported in the first four months of 2016 with only 2 reported in the remaining eight months.