Pakistan

Karachi crime rate increased extraordinarily after floods: police

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Karachi witnessing alarming rise in street crime, police admit.
Sindh Police says trying to curb incidents of street crime.
Incidents of snatching less than last year, police officials say.

ISLAMABAD: The port city of Karachi has witnessed an “alarming increase” in street crime after the flash floods in parts of the country, Sindh Police officials said Friday.

In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, the police officials said that half of the criminals caught by them belong to other parts of the country.

The meeting of the Senate body was held under the chair of Senator Mohsin Aziz.

Expressing concern over the sharp rise in street crimes in Karachi, the body directed the Sindh Police and other relevant departments to crack down on criminal elements.

The overall law and order situation in Karachi and particularly the performance of the Sindh Police in preventing street crimes, including theft, robbery, kidnapping, murder and target killings, were reviewed in detail.

The police officials told the committee that after the recent floods, there has been an “extraordinary increase” in street crimes in the city, adding that the police officers have been directed to lodge FIRs.

Sharing the data, they told that 42,669 crime incidents were reported in 2011, 39,694 in 2015, 61,244 in 2020 and 84,045 in 2021.

Moreover, 385 people were killed in 2018 and 393 people in 2021, while 369 suspected killers were arrested till August 31, 2022.

In 2018, 2,211 vehicles were snatched, 26,846 vehicles were stolen, and 15,678 mobile phones were snatched.

In 2021, 4,783 vehicles were snatched, 49,608 vehicles were stolen, and 25,000 mobile phones were snatched.

The Sindh Police told the senators that there was a sharp increase in street crime in Karachi in recent times and they are trying to curb the incidents of street crime.

The Senate committee was informed that the incidents of stealing mobile phones, motorcycles, and purses are less than last year as previously, most of the cases were not registered.

Member Standing Committee Senator Fauzia Arshad said that a huge number of street crimes were reported in the media and expressed reservations about the crime statistics given to the committee.

She said the reality seems to be different.

Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri said that the police department did not even register an FIR when the phone of her acquaintance was stolen in Karachi.

She added it has also been heard that flood victims’ women were raped under the pretext of giving aid and children were also abducted.

The officials of the Sindh Police told the committee there is a very low rate of rape cases in Sindh and Balochistan except in Machar Colony, an area of Karachi, where a high number of rape cases were reported.

In response to a question of the committee’s chairman, Aziz, the Sindh Police officials believe that people from Afghanistan were involved in the sale of drugs.

“All the Afghan refugees are not registered and steps are being taken to register and send them back,” they told the committee.

Pakistan

Sindh schools winter vacations from Dec 22

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday announced the winter vacation schedule for public and private educational institutions across the province.

According to a notification issued by the Sindh School, Education, and Literacy Department, the educational institutions in the province will observe winter vacation from December 22 to 31.

“In pursuance of decisions taken in the steering committee meeting, all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of School Education and Literacy Department Government of Sindh shall remain closed w.e.f 22-12,023 to 31-12,023 for Winter Vacation.”

Sindh schools winter vacations from Dec 22

After the winter break, the educational institutions will reopen on Friday (January 1, 2024).

Meanwhile, the new academic year in the public and private schools across Sindh will commence on April 15, 2024, and August 1, 2024, in the colleges.

The matriculation and intermediate exams will be started from the last week of May 2024, while the results will be announced on July 31 and the second week of August, respectively.

Pakistan

COAS Gen Asim Munir meets Kuwaiti crown prince

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to meet Kuwaiti crown prince today.
Both army chief and PM are in Kuwait on official visit.
PM Office says multiple MoUs expected to be signed during visit.

Army chief General Asim Munir on Tuesday met Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as part of his official visit to the gulf country, reported Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The meeting was also attended by Caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Pakistan Ambassador to Kuwait Malik Mohammad Farooq and other members of the delegation.

Meanwhile, PM Kakar has also arrived in Kuwait City after concluding the UAE visit and is expected to meet the crown prince today, the PM Office said on Wednesday.

The premier will also meet his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The PM office said that a number of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) will be signed for mutual cooperation in various sectors including manpower, information technology, minerals and mining, food security, energy and defence.

In UAE, Pakistan signed several MoUs worth multi-billion dollars in a range of areas on Monday to boost economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries, PM Kakar said.

The prime minister said with the signing of the MoUs, the bilateral economic and strategic relations had entered into a new era of bilateral cooperation.

Congratulating the people of Pakistan and the UAE, he said the foundation of friendship with Pakistan which was laid by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in the 1970s, had been taken forward by his son Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to a new era.

PM Kakar expressed the hope that the MoUs that were signed by the two countries would turn into tangible projects very soon.

Pakistan

Haj 2024: Pakistanis to get ‘free SIMs with internet’

Published

4 days ago

Farwa

Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Aneeq Ahmed said Tuesday that the government would provide free-of-cost mobile SIMs with roaming internet packages to Pakistanis performing Haj in 2024.

In conversation with a private news channel, the caretaker minister said abayas would also be given to female pilgrims, having a Pakistani flag on the backside, and 13kg suitcases would be given to all.

The minister called the reduction of around Rs100,000 in the Haj cost a “historic step” taken by the caretaker government, noting that a further Rs50,000 would be slashed and the amount would be refunded to the people in their accounts.

He said a new mobile application has been designed to assist pilgrims, which will provide navigation support and enable constant communication between pilgrims and relevant officials.

Initially available in English and Urdu, the application will later incorporate various regional languages, he said, adding, that the app would also provide digital training programmes to every pilgrim.

The minister also disclosed a project that Haj ministry, with the collaboration of the education ministry, has planned to convert city mosques into schools to enroll out-of-school children where the mosques’ imams would play a leading role.

The minister said that mosques will play their role as community centers in every city areas, adding that imams will resolve community issues as well after offering prayers.

He said that haj ministry is taking all four provinces on board and enhancing the connectivity of mosques.

While describing another project, the minister said that his ministry with the collaboration of the health ministry has another project in the works, in which medical clinics will also be part of mosques.