Street crimes are commonplace in Pakistan. Almost everyone has a story to tell about having a purse or a wallet stolen; everyday street crimes appear in the news headlines. They usually only occur in the big cities, where there are homeless street-people. An analysis of the official data compiled by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) reveals that, on an average, 124 mobile phones are snatched/stolen every day. In the preceding year, the figure had stood at 76. The growing trend of cellphone snatching and theft in Karachi reflects the failure of the police in containing the crime. Despite the IMEI mechanism having been activated to get the handsets jammed by the concerned cellular companies, there has been a little or no improvement in the overall situation.
The major causes are unemployment and illiteracy but there are some other factors too like lawlessness, fundamentalism, backwardness and double standards prevailing in the society. The government should take steps to control these street crimes in Pakistan to make Pakistan a peaceful country
M AHSAN SHAMIM
Karachi
