KARACHI – While lawlessness due to failure of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) is abetting the ongoing criminal activities in the financial hub of Pakistan, the scheduled load shedding by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) is also lending a helping hand to criminals.
Most criminal activities in the city are reportedly being carried out during power breakdowns when criminals find it easy to escape from both the public and the LEAs.
Interestingly, the power outages are not only adding to the woes of the crises-hit masses, who are forced to spend sleepless nights during electricity outages, but they have also put the citizens’ lives and valuables at risk as miscreants have been taking advantage of the darkness for easily escaping after committing crimes.
At least two-hour long power outages have been providing countless opportunities to criminals for the past many years, and the scheduled outages, according to sources, are one of the major reasons of criminal activities in the metropolis.
Under the present schedule of load shedding, a large number of areas remain in the dark for at least an hour or two, whereas criminals who are aware of these timings are targeting the areas of the city when they are enshrouded in darkness.
The citizens’ valuables – including cars, motorcycles, mobile phones and jewellery – at their shops, offices and houses are becoming soft targets for the criminals in the city. Besides looting the citizens in buses, on the streets and in other public places, the criminals have also been robbing KESC installations.
Equipped with wire-cutters, thieves have been targeting KESC substations and poles across the city to steal copper wires in the absence of electricity. The costly copper wires and other valuables of the power company are being stolen in an organised and systematic manner.
A lot of similar cases have been registered at several police stations, including Defence, Keamari, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Orangi Town, Korangi and Sohrab Goth. The KESC’s own police have also been arresting thieves while they were trying to steal copper wires off the power utility’s installations, thereby affecting localised pole-mounted transformers.
According to sources, dozens of cars, motorcycles, mobile phones and other valuables are being snatched or stolen every day in the city, whereas the number of murders is also increasing on a daily basis. Under the present volatile situation, the smooth supply of power is necessary to keep an eye on criminal activities to minimise the sufferings of the citizens of Karachi.
