More than 250 street crime suspects arrested with IB’s help

The Intelligence Bureau has formed teams to curb incidents of street crime in Karachi, and so far they have helped arrest more than 250 of the 700 suspects on their target list, The News has learnt.

IB Sindh Director General Abdul Khalique Shaikh took up the issue of rising street crime in the city and directed his subordinates to compile a list of the criminals involved in such incidents, said a source.

Shaikh recently convened a meeting to discuss the progress made by his subordinates. He was informed that a total of 700 criminals are involved in different types of street crime and that so far more than 250 of them have been arrested.

Raids were carried out on pieces of information shared by the IB Sindh with different law enforcement and security agencies operating in the city, including the Crime Investigation Agency, the Sindh Rangers and the zonal DIG offices of the Karachi police.

The meeting was told that in the light of a report issued by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, the IB’s efforts have helped decrease incidents of street crime by 23 per cent. DG Shaikh stressed that more efforts are to be made because the incidents should be decreased by 70 to 80 per cent. He ordered expediting operations to arrest the remaining criminals.

Law enforcers’ investigations based on the IB’s list of 700 active criminals have revealed that some of the suspects are operating drug peddling gangs and they motivate addicts to commit crimes for them in return for money and narcotics.

The more than 250 criminals who have been arrested were also verified with the help of crime data, including sketches and available CCTV camera footage, and they were all booked at the relevant police stations.

IB officials have also been deployed at markets selling mobile phones, scrap and jewellery to keep a close watch on criminals involved in the sale and purchase of snatched phones and jewellery as well as parts of stolen vehicles.

In the coming days a major operation is expected by law enforcement and security agencies to curb the menace of street crime in the city. In this regard, a meeting was held by the Sindh Rangers at their headquarters in Karachi.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held at Sindh Rangers’ headquarters on Monday to review the law and order situation of the province. The spokesman for the paramilitary force said the meeting was chaired by Rangers Sindh DG Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed.

The meeting, which was attended by the Sindh and Karachi police chiefs as well as by senior Rangers and police officers, took into account the law and order situation of the entire province and the security measures being taken to counter terrorism and other threats.

The meeting reached a consensus and drew up a composite strategy to coordinate with and maintain harmony between different law enforcement and security agencies to conduct joint operations to protect the lives and properties of the people of the province.