Surge in street crimes in Karachi before Eid ul-Adha, sacrificial animals stolen

Digital Desk: Ahead of Eid ul-Adha celebrations, street robbers in Pakistan's Karachi saw a surge in targeting people carrying sacrificial animals worth lakhs of rupees.

As per Sindh Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) reports of street crime surge in the first five months of 2023, with at least 46 persons killed while resisting thefts in over 3,000 documented occurrences.

Unfortunately, more than 21,000 mobile phones have been reported stolen, and over 20,000 motorcycles and cars have also been reported missing or stolen. Street criminals have advanced in the city, from robbing people to stealing sacrificed animals and doing daring hold-ups in eateries and even cemeteries, making life miserable for the nearly 17 lakh people who live in the metro area.

Recently, thieves have started snatching and fleeing with sacrifice animals brought in huge numbers by locals ahead of Eid ul-Adha celebrations on Thursday.

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Sacrificial animals, which are being sold this year for hundreds, even lakhs of rupees, have become such a lucrative target for thieves that the Sindh police have deployed a particular security unit to the biggest animal markets set up for the approaching Eid.

Last week, armed bandits daringly unloaded goats from a moving vehicle while the driver stood powerless, two bikers waving weapons at him.

Karachi, the world's 12th largest city and Pakistan's commercial centre has been plagued by street violence for many years, with the impunity of street criminals expanding due to the city's inadequate law enforcement.

According to sociologist Dr. Aima Akbar, the current rise in street crime might be ascribed to the country's continuous political and economic turmoil.

"Criminals are emboldened by the turmoil, and it has long been known that the Sindh police do not have enough manpower to man a city like Karachi, which is rapidly expanding," she said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Muhammad Tariq Mughal admitted that police were understaffed, saying, "We have set up a special Shaheens force to deal with street criminals, but presently we have just 128,000 policemen of all ranks on duty, and this makes it difficult to petrol every area of the city."

He admitted that many incidences of street crime went unreported as well.

Aima Akbar shed insight on the causes of rampant street crime, saying, "These are complex and multifaceted." Unemployment and poverty are factors in this. Many qualified young people are unemployed, which causes dissatisfaction and fury."

The amalgamation of poverty and Karachi's huge population of poor and underprivileged people sometimes leads to people turning to crime as a means of survival. Weak law enforcement is also a big contributor to street violence in the city, which has a metro area population of 17,236,000 people. Murtaza Wahab, Karachi's newly elected mayor, stated that one of his top priorities is to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to improve the city's security.

He asserted that the provincial government has already taken numerous initiatives to strengthen law and order, including the establishment of special police units to combat street crime, but added, "But we also need to address the other causes of youth turning to street crime, such as creating more job opportunities."