Sindh’s top cop told to reply to citizen’s letter on street crime hike

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the provincial police chief to reply to the letter of a citizen about the increase in street crime incidents across Karachi.

The direction came on a petition of a citizen named Shamir against the increase in street crime incidents across the city and the construction of a police station in the Model Colony locality.

The petitioner said the Model Colony police station has been shifted to the Saudabad area, which is three to four kilometres away from Model Colony. He said that daily incidents of street crime have increased not only in Model Colony but also in other parts of the city, as the police have failed to control these crimes.

He also said that armed dacoits frequently commit robberies and other crimes in Model Colony, where salaried persons and pensioners withdrawing money from the bank are left at the mercy of criminals.

He further said that it is necessary for the government to construct a police station along with a checkpoint in the area and ensure patrolling, but no such arrangements have been made for the residents of Model Colony.

The petitioner said that the lives of the residents of the entire city are at risk due to the failure of the police and other law enforcement agencies because they are deliberately not controlling street crime, as no action is being taken against armed dacoits.

He requested the court to direct the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) to submit complete reports on street crime, including mobile phone snatching, as well as on the action taken against the culprits. He also asked the court to direct the police to control street crime across the city, especially in Model Colony, as well as to construct a police station in the Model Colony area.

After hearing the arguments of the petitioner, the court said that the petition is prima facie not maintainable in the constitutional jurisdiction of the court. The court also said that the petitioner has written a letter to the IGP on the subject of law and order, especially street crime, to which he has not received a reply.

The court directed the police chief to reply to the petitioner’s letter about the law and order situation of the city, and disposed of the petition.

Missing persons

The SHC issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers, the Sindh police chief and others to file comments on petitions against the allegedly enforced disappearance of four citizens from different parts of the city.

The petitioners claimed that Abdul Latif, Altaf, Akhtar and Azam had been picked up by personnel of the law enforcement agencies from the Baldia Town, Liaquatabad and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas, and their whereabouts remained unknown since then. They said that the police were disclosing neither the whereabouts of the detainees nor the details of the cases in connection with which they had been picked up.