‘Street crime figures exaggerated’

Karachi police chief Mushtaq Mehar accused the media on Saturday of exaggerating figures about street crime in the city, Geo News reported.

Speaking at a ceremony of the Electronics Market Association, he said: “I do not declare myself free of any responsibility by saying that street crimes are not taking place, but the media might have some agenda behind giving hype to the issue.”

“CPLC stats indicate that there has been a fall in overall crime in the city,” he said.

The additional inspector general of police said second-hand mobile phones were exported to African countries from the city, and that police had approached the customs’ authorities to prevent that practice.

He added that several measures were being taken and soon there would be a decline in street crime in the megapolis.

Meanwhile, a group of burglars mocked the police chief by picking locks of another shop in the city. The unknown thieves broke into a shop in the Malir 15 electronics market and got away with appliances.  The owner of the shop alleged that police were not lodging an FIR.