Streets crime on the rise in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Street crimes have registered a sharp rise in various localities in the city in recent weeks.Many people including some journalists were robbed of cash and valuables at gunpoint. The pattern of the crimes showed that cellphone snatchers and robbers mostly used motorbikes without number plates.

The irony of the situation is that the police don’t even bother to register the first information report of such crimes. The cops assure the complainants that the snatched cellphone and cash would be recovered provided they cooperated with the police.

A source said that a journalist was robbed of his cellphone at gunpoint in the limits of Gulbahar Police Station in broad daylight. “On Saturday, I was talking on my cellphone while walking on foot when two motorcyclists snatched it. I was about to chase them, but the pillion rider pointed his pistol at me and sped away,” Qaiser Khan, a local journalist, said.

This was for the second time that the journalist in question was robbed by armed men riding a motorbike.A similar incident had happened near the Radio Pakistan building many years back. “I was told by the cops that this was the second incident in almost 30 minutes. A large number of robberies are happening in all parts of the city on a daily basis but the cases are not reported. A roznamcha is maintained and the police forget about the case,” said Qaiser Khan.

He added that a newspaper hawker who delivered him paper was robbed of his cellphone on the Supply Depot Road early Monday. He approached the Paharipura Police Station but they told him to go to Faqirabad Police Station.

Mahmud Jan Babar, bureau chief of Geo News, was deprived of his bag that was kept in his car parked outside the Peshawar Press Club on February 6. “The bag contained important documents, flash drive and other valuables. I reported the case to all the high-ups but so far no progress has been made in my case,” said Mahmud Jan Babar.

He explained that he even provided the CCTV footage of the nearby buildings and asked the police to get footage from other places to see if someone was carrying the bag.He lamented that the police couldn’t make any progress despite his repeated requests to the top cops. Another journalist Tariq Waheed was deprived of his cellphone in a crowded bazaar close to the Hashtnagri Police Station on January 28. No progress was made in the case in the last two months.

Besides, journalist Malik Rizwan was deprived of his motorbike and another newsman Fakhruddin of cash at the ATM in the last few weeks. No progress was made in working out these cases.