Street crimes on the rise in ‘heavily guarded’ Capital

Rawalpindi    –   Despite the tight security in and around the federal capital, the incidents of snatching mobile phones, cash and jewellery from citizens at gunpoint are on the rise in the city, sources informed yesterday.

The areas where snatchings were reported very high include I-9 Markaz, I-10 Markaz, Sabzi Mandi, F-11, F-10, Shamas Colony (near Golra Morr), Blue Area, Lehtrar Road, Kirpa Road, Japan Road and Ghauri Town, they said.

The most pathetic and alarming thing is that most of the cases go unregistered due to the unwillingness of the Islamabad police to register those cases apparently to show low crime rate in the heavily-guarded federal capital, the sources said.

The further said, the manager of Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital (QAIH) was going in his car to deposit Rs 6.4 million cash in the bank when a gang of four unknown dacoits intercepted him on gunpoint at Service Road near Golra Morr in a broad daylight some two months ago. They said that the armed dacoits snatched cash from him and managed to flee in another car. The management of the hospital reported the incident to Police Station Shamas Colony but unfortunately the police has not registered the case so far, the sources mentioned.

Interestingly, the bosses of Islamabad police had categorically denied the occurrence of such incident in Shamas Colony area.

“Though the dacoits had snatched cash from the QAIH manager on gunpoint yet the management of the hospital is not willing to the case registered against dacoits,” stated Station House Officer (SHO) Shamas Colony SI Turab Ul Hassan while talking to The Nation.

Contrary to the SHO’s claim, Superintendent of Police (SP) Muhammad Zubair Sheikh, when contacted by this correspondent, said, “There is no such incident and case.”

While exposing the lie of the police officers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) QAIH Dr Shaukat Bangish told The Nation that his manager was robbed of by four dacoits on gunpoint and a complaint was also registered with the Shamas Colony police. Nonetheless, no case was filed by the police against dacoits so far, he said.

Similarly, a young boy was shot and injured by dacoits during a mobile and cash snatching bid on July 28 at F-10 Markaz, Islamabad. The dacoits managed to escape from the scene after committing the crime in the presence of police personnel at a Naka placed at Street Number 3, eyewitnesses shared this with The Nation. He said that the maimed boy was later moved to the PIMS hospital for medical treatment but the police did not file a case against the dacoits involved in the crime. 

Another incident of street crime took place within the jurisdiction of Shamas Colony police jurisdiction when a gang of armed dacoits snatched cash, mobile phones and gold ornaments from wife and son Advocate Rizwan A Mirza of former Advocate General Razzaq A Mirza on gunpoint.

Reportedly, two masked dacoits having guns into their hands have held a woman hostage in a park near Kohsar Market in F-6/3 and snatched a mobile phone and cash from her. Later, the dacoits pushed the woman to ground and fled riding a bike.

SP City (Zone) Umer Khan, when contacted, said that the victim lady had not approached the police for lodging a case against the suspected dacoits. “This news surfaced on social media and the Islamabad police had contacted the handler who posted this tweet to her contact number of the victim,” he said.

Another incident of kidnapping in a broad daylight also occurred in the limits of Khanna police in a broad daylight when a group of transporters had severely tortured a man and later on bundled him into a Suzuki pickup and fled towards Lehtrar Road, the source said. 

In another incident, a senior journalist and former President of National Press Club (NPC) came under attack by some unknown culprits near Police Foundation, they said.

Similarly, two unidentified dacoits having sophisticated weapons into hands targeted a citizen in G-9/3 when he was returning home after withdrawing Rs 1.1 million from a bank. The dacoits snatched the cash from him and ran away, the sources said. 

The police registered a case against the dacoits on complaint of the victim and begun investigation, the sources said.

DIG (Operations) Islamabad Waqar Uddin Syed, when contacted by The Nation to seek his comments over the surge in crime rate in the federal capital, he did not respond to the repeated phone calls and the messages sent by this correspondent on his social media App Whatsaap.

On the other hand, a team of Cantt police, under the command of SHO SI Raja Aizaz Azim, arrested a notorious gang of motorcycle lifters and recovered 11 stolen motorcycles from their possession. The accused have been identified as Raja Rizwan (ring leader), Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Zeeshan and Junaid. CPO Muhammad Ahsan Younas appreciated the efforts of the SHO and his team.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/14-Sep-2020/street-crimes-on-the-rise-in-heavily-guarded-capital