Peshawar witnesses rise in violent street crimes

PESHAWAR: Violent street crimes are on the rise in the provincial capital as the police are struggling to improve the situation particularly in the urban and suburban towns.

There has been an increase in incidents of snatching, robberies and other crimes in Peshawar. The alarming trend is the violence exhibited by the robbers in many incidents for offering resistance.

There were a number of incidents in different parts of the capital city in the recent weeks where armed criminals, mostly on motorbikes, shot and injured people during robberies, mostly when faced resistance.

Apart from negligence on part of the local police, the unprecedented inflation as well as ice addiction has added to the street crimes and violence.

Reports say that a large number of incidents of snatching phones and cash, theft from homes, shops and other places and lifting of bikes are not even being reported to police since the victims believe they will not get any relief.

As the snatchers are busy in urban and suburban towns, highwaymen looted vehicles on Kohat Road in the rural Matani as well as other towns in the recent months.

The official data compiled by the police force also show the law and order situation was not at its best.

According to the data, the Peshawar Police registered three cases of kidnapping for ransom, four other kidnapping, two incidents of child lifting, seven of abduction, one incident of dacoity, 42 robberies, 15 burglaries, 36 cases of theft in the last one month.

Besides, 17 incidents of car lifting , two of car snatching, 20 motorbike lifting, six bike snatching, 56 cases of hurts and 71 cases of attempted murder and 55 cases of murder were reported in the last one month. The same is the situation for the last couple of years.

The incidents of street crimes have been happening in Peshawar and many other districts for a long time now. However, the increasing trend of shooting the victims is alarming.

In many cases in recent weeks, criminals fired shots and injured victims in order to spread terror.

A young man Ibrar was taken to hospital after he was shot with two bullets by two armed robbers on Ring Road near Landi Arbab over a week ago.

The robbers managed their escape when the locals rushed to help the victim. They took the wounded to hospital. He is still under treatment with a fractured leg. Three people were shot and injured in separate incidents in the provincial capital in a single day, allegedly for offering resistance during armed robberies.

A victim identified as Salman from Charsadda told the police he had come to Lakhkar Kelay where two armed men intercepted him and later opened fire on him.

The same day, one Abdul Rahman, a resident of Mardan, was shot and injured by armed motorcyclists when he did not stop after robbers signalled him.

A local identified as Adnan was shot the same day in a similar fashion while another person was shot and injured in Hayatabad a day before the incident.

Many such incidents were reported from different parts of the provincial capital in the recent weeks.

An increase in violent street crimes has already spread terror in Peshawar where theft, snatching, lifting and burglaries were happening for long frequently.

An official informed this scribe that several gangs of street criminals including those involved in shooting people have been busted and many of their members were arrested by the capital city police during the current year.

He added that police have identified the troubled points where more patrolling was conducted and cops deployed to improve the situation.

Superintendent of Police Saddar Malik Habib said two of the group members who looted people on Kohat Road were killed during an encounter while two others were arrested.