Rawalpindi : If there is one city in the country where criminals seem to be operating with impunity and the police either snoozing or hiding, that is Rawalpindi, the sister city of the federal capital Islamabad.
Gone are the days when people used to quote Karachi, Hyderabad or to some extent Lahore, as the most dangerous cities to live in. In the past when anybody from upcountry intended to visit Karachi, they were forewarned to remain vigilant against street crimes, especially cell phone, wristwatch, and purse snatching at gunpoint.
These days we are extending the same warnings to the people coming to visit Rawalpindi.
The city seems to have turned into a comfortable abode for all kind of criminals. There had always been intelligence reports about presence of most unwanted criminals hiding in the bustling city.
The intelligence agencies managed to root out the menace of terrorism from Rawalpindi quite effectively but the Rawalpindi Police has failed to capitalise on the good work done by the intelligence agencies as they completely forgot to take care of the elements which went into hiding and cosily hibernated.
And now it seems quite clear that the grass has grown too high under their feet while the Pindi Police enjoyed a deep slumber. Those elements quietly formed their own gangs and instead of going for the terror activities, they hit the city with a wave of crime that completely set the police of their feet.
And as it happens in all such situations, finding Rawalpindi a lucrative target, quite a few known gangs also headed for the city as they found the things becoming too hot to handle in their areas and regions.
And all this happened over night. The reports of formation of these gangs and even the fights between these gangs to take over the control over certain areas were frequently reported in the media in the past.
It was not more than a year that the alarm bells were rung by the media regarding upsurge in street crimes in Rawalpindi as well as the formation of local as well as gangs of criminals from other cities emerging and relocating here. But unfortunately the Rawalpindi Police, apparently, never paid heed to those warnings and continued to sleep over the ‘volcano’.
And now it volcano of crime has erupted with such intensity that the Police is completely baffled and is at a loss to understand as to how to control the situation. A major factor towards deterioration of the situation is inefficiency of the police department in this particular situation is too long stays of police officers and officials in one position.
A recent crime review revealed that at least 1,550 incidents of street crimes including armed dacoities, car-lifting, mugging, mobile and purse snatching and loot and plunder have been recorded in different areas of the city.
“And so daring these criminals have become now that they straightaway shot the victim on resistance”, a police officer said.
And the most alarming thing for the poor citizens is that the performance of Rawalpindi Police, instead of improving, continues to nose dive. Even worse is the fact that a few years ago the Islamabad Police used to approach the Rawalpindi Police for help as the criminals, after committing a crime in the federal capital would quickly cross over the IJP Road. Now, probably the situation on this count has also turned around.
People, especially women, have become a ‘soft target’ for these street thugs who are operating organised like ‘mafia’ with their own boundaries demarcated in which the other gang would not interfere. And with each passing day, these gangs of criminals are getting stronger and stronger.
This is a fact that an overwhelming majority of the victims of such muggings prefer not to approach the police to file their complaints, leave alone insisting on registering an FIR (First Information Report).
It has always been almost impossible to find incriminating evidence proving the police-criminal nexus in such conditions but the circumstantial evidence and public opinion clearly indicate that the Rawalpindi Police is the most untrustworthy institution in the eyes of the masses and in many incidents is hands in glove with the criminals.
This is an open secret that the police have become the patron of these criminals and it is this patronage of the police which create chaos and anarchy in the society. And that exactly seems to be happening in Rawalpindi now.
This phenomenon indeed has not sprung up over night. This has taken years to mature and one major contributing factor is the prolonged postings of senior officers in their offices at the top and similar practice at grass roots level in the postings and transfers of the Station House Officers (SHOs) in the police stations of the city.
As a result, as could be seen and assessed, the law and order situation in Rawalpindi has touched the lowest ebb. The criminals are ruling the city and the citizens have almost stopped looking towards the police for help.
It is a writing on the wall that if immediate steps, first to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation through a serious crackdown against criminals, followed by efforts to retrieve the situation by confidence building measures between police and public, were not launched the city will become another ‘Karachi’ of 1990s and 2000.
And if the police are not capable to doing all this, would it require a call to the Rangers to bring safety and security back in the lives of common citizens in Rawalpindi as well.
It has always been considered a ‘good practice’ to keep rotating the officers in different districts with maximum stay of 3 years posting at one place. The rotation practice for the SHO’s should be even less, with maximum tenure of 2 years in one police station.
It is believed that the authorities engaged in changing the police culture, ignored the twin-cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, a fact that contributes towards developing strong links between police and the gangs of criminals. Change of command could be the most effective way to control the deteriorating law and order situation.
The authorities, who believe in police performance for peace in the society as well as protection of lives and property of the general public, need to take up the issue. They should not believe what is on papers, but should observe what is on ground.
