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Alarming rise in crime

By Salis bin Perwaiz

Karachi

The city remains in the grip of terror following an increase in the number of target killings and sporadic acts of violence. The current situation is a far cry from the city’s peaceful days of yore, when families thronged to the seaside and other places free from the fear of miscreants. Back then, people still counted on the law-enforcing agencies of the city to protect their lives. Since 2000, however, the overall security situation in Karachi has added to the misery of the common man. This trend appears to continue as numerous complaints were lodged regarding robbery, kidnapping for ransom and also terrorist acts, last week.

Among the complaints registered during the passing week include one by Kaneez Fatima, a resident of Sector-8A, Nusrat Colony, Korangi, at the Korangi Industrial Area police station. In the complaint, she said that she received a call on her cellphone from a man who identified himself as Qaiser, and told her that he has kidnapped her husband, Mohammed Hakeem. Fatima was told to go to a house situated in Gali 14, Nusrat Colony, with Rs0.3 million in cash as ransom for her husband’s freedom.

Fatima said she took Rs100,000, the cash available in her house at the time, and went to the designated location, where she gave the money to the accused Qaiser. There, she found three other people later identified as Noor Mohammed, Mureed and an unknown woman. When they found out that Fatima did not bring the stipulated amount, they sexually assaulted her. 

The accused released Fatima after she promised to arrange for the remaining amount. On returning home, she told her relative Saleem about her ordeal, and on his advice, she headed towards the police station to report the case. On the way, she received another call from Qaiser, who told her to take her husband’s body from a street near her house. Fatima rushed to the spot, where she found her husband lying injured. Later, she lodged an FIR against the accused. However, no arrests have been made so far.

In another incident, Niaz Ahmed, a resident of Basti Rasani, Tehsil Tounsa Sharif, District Dera Ghazi Khan, registered a complaint at the Saeedabad police station regarding his brother Riaz Ahmed, who had gone missing since June 10. Riaz, who ran a gift shop in the area, went to deposit money at Allied Bank, Saeedabad, on June 10 but never returned. The complainant visited the bank, contacted relatives and friends but all his efforts have been futile so far. Finally, he registered his complaint with the police. Riaz is still missing.

At the Peerabad police station, Abdullah Khan, a resident of Shahiabad, Frontier Colony No 3, registered a complaint that his son, Sher Alam, who had gone out for some minor work on May 7, 2009, did not come home. He had initially lodged a missing complaint at the police station, and registered his kidnapping report in June.

Adamjee Yaqoob, who registered his complaint at the Ferozabad police station, said that he was near Ideal Bakery, Block 7/8, PECHS, when two thugs robbed him of his laptop and fled. A case was reported at the police station.

At the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station, Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, resident of Mateen Terrace, Block 13/D-1, Gulshan, lodged his complaint that on June 6, he was on his way to get medicines, when he was intercepted by three unknown men driving a black Prado Jeep. They pushed him inside their vehicle, and said they had blood money (supari) of Rs200,000 from Salahuddin and Zakaria to kill him. However, he begged for mercy, and they dropped him at Sharae Noor Jehan. Thereafter, he went to Sehwan Sharif, but has returned to Karachi and registered an FIR. The police are investigating the case.

Moreover, two terrorist attempts in the city were foiled by the police parties of Taimuria and Sharae Faisal Police Stations, who recovered explosives. However, the increasing frequency of such incidents means that Karachiites continue to live in fear.
salis.perwaiz@thenews.com.pk