Crime rate decreases in City, claims police chief

LAHORE:Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Laho­re Bilal Siddique Kamyana while addressing a presser at Police Lines Qila Gujjar Singh here on Monday stated that Lahore Police has emerged as a model force based on its performance.

The CCPO said that based on 15 call data, the crime rate in the provincial capital has significantly decreased in May 2024. Due to effective police strategies, there was a 56% decrease in crime against property and a 64% decrease in burglary incidents in May. Similarly, there was a 56% reduction in robbery incidents and a 51% decrease in vehicle theft incidents, he noted. Incidents of vehicle snatching saw a 57% decrease, while robbery and snatching incidents dropped by 58%, he informed.

Kamyana mentioned that a crackdown against habitual and professional criminals involved in robbery, theft, and street crimes is ongoing. Lahore Police is adhering to a zero-tolerance policy against drugs, illegal weapons and street crime, with raids and operations continuing against dangerous groups involved in organised crime, the CCPO said.

He informed that investigations of over 474,000 under-investigation cases have been completed from 2018 to 2024. He revealed that from 2018 to 2024, 662,000 pending road cases were resolved. He stated that Lahore Police recovered more than Rs1.548 billion in 2024. Additionally, in 2024 Lahore Police arrested 2,590 A-category Proclaimed Offenders, 10,264 B-category POs, 16,678 court absconders and 5,679 target offenders. Overall, police arrested 8,004 A-category POs, 30,366 B-category POs, 65,815 court absconders and 24,866 target offenders, he said.

Kamyana stated that over 4,000 cases were registered against anti-social elements and overall, more than 15,000 cases were registered. In the crackdown against drug dealers, over 4,000 suspects were arrested in 2024, and overall, more than 15,000 suspects were arrested. The suspects were found in possession of 1,024 kg of hashish, 315 kg of heroin, 144 kg of ice and 410 kg of opium, he remarked.

Similarly, in actions against those possessing illegal weapons, over 10,000 cases were registered in 2023, over 4,000 cases have been registered in 2024 so far, and overall, more than 14,000 cases have been registered. Over 10,000 suspects were arrested in 2023 for illegal weapons, over 4,000 suspects have been arrested in 2024 so far, and overall, more than 14,000 suspects have been arrested. In 2023-24, 264 Kalashnikovs, 1,024 rifles, 655 guns, and 13,175 pistols were recovered from the suspects, he noted.

The CCPO informed that in 2023-24, over Rs35 million were given to police employees under the district welfare fund. Scholarship cheques amounting to over Rs91.198 million were given to the children of police employees in 2023-24. Approximately 4,600 employees of Lahore Police were promoted to higher ranks in 2023-24, he concluded.

Senior police officers including DIG (Investigations) Zeeshan Asghar, DIG (OCU) Imran Kishwar, DIG (Operations) Faisal Kamran, SSP (Admin) Atif Nazir and SP (Headquarters) Ahmed Zunair Cheema were also present on this occasion.