KARACHI: Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) spokesperson on Wednesday refuted an alleged proposal by Sindh Rangers Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed, which had suggested that street criminals should be tried under anti-terrorism law.
He said that the report about the alleged proposal that was carried by many newspapers last week was nothing but a negation of facts.
He clarified that the director general had only suggested that those street crime cases should be sent to anti-terrorism courts for trial that involved murder.
This suggestion was put forward during the last meeting of Sindh Apex Committee and was under consideration of the Sindh government. It is the government, he added, that eventually has to decide whether to go forward with this suggestion or not.
The Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has compiled a list according to which the incidents of theft/snatching of mobile and motorbike have not decreased in the province, questioning the effectiveness of security forces’ operations and crackdowns to rein in street crime.
According to the data, 21700 motorcycles and 15599 mobile phones were stolen in the metropolis this year, whereas 1853 motorbikes and 11620 mobile phones were snatched.
58 citizens registered complaints of extortion while 347 incidents of murder were reported in the city. Eight bank robberies also took place this year. Around 1294 citizens had their cars stolen.
Earlier, the Rangers director general claimed that crimes such as targeted killings, extortion, kidnapping for ransom had shown significant decline in the city due to targeted operations.
However, he agreed that street crimes still posed a major challenge to the law enforcement agencies in the city.