I’m not talking about soaring prices, rather soaring number of crimes during Ramzan! Really pathetic, seems like Islam is no more existent in our country :(. Soaring prices are indicators of greed in the “business/trade” circle, increasing crimes is indicative of lack of security as well as increase of number of criminals. Money is the only religion now, even if only money was the religion would’ve been okay but seeking money using illegal/haram ways is just disgusting!
KARACHI: Ramazan sees spike in kidnappings -DAWN - Local; September 22, 2008
KARACHI: Ramazan sees spike in kidnappings
By Imran Ayub
KARACHI, Sept 21: As Ramazan enters its last 10 days, data shows that the early days of the holy month have witnessed a sharp rise in the crime graph across the city, with an unprecedented jump in kidnap-for-ransom cases which, the law enforcers believe, have been taking place everyday for the last few weeks.
Data compiled by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and background interviews conducted with senior police officials suggest that the most worrying trend to have emerged over the past few weeks is that of ‘snap kidnapping,’ in which a few armed men choose their target at random and take him or her at gunpoint around the city, making the victim arrange ransom money by calling his or her immediate family or friends.
“In Ramazan there have been about a dozen cases of short-term or ‘snap kidnapping,’ in which a kidnap victim is released within 24 hours of successful deals,” said an official citing recently-compiled crime data.
The investigators pointed to a few gangs involved in such crimes, which were seen operating mainly in the Soldier Bazaar and Garden areas. But there have been no arrests yet in this regard. CPLC chief Sharfuddin Memon believes that in this particular type of crime, there are a number of cases which go unreported.
“Still we, in coordination with the AVCC (Anti-Violent Crime Cell) are trying our level best to locate the culprits and have got leads in some of the cases,” he added.
Wasim Ahmed, Capital City Police Officer, agreed that the number of such cases had increased during the last few weeks but said that apart from the rising number of incidents, there are several other factors which affected the law enforcers’ efforts.
Cellphone data
“The main problem lies with the data of cellular companies, which don’t follow the defined rules when selling connections, neither do they streamline their subscribers’ data, which would allow us to track the communications between the kidnappers and the affected families,” he added.
However, a senior police official investigating one of the cases said the recent trend of ‘snap kidnappings’ suggests that armed men also take the victim to an ATM demanding cash withdrawal at gunpoint. “The method of short-term kidnapping is very popular among certain criminal gangs, as it takes less time and ensures instant results,” he added.
Farooq Awan, SP of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell, told Dawn that last year, 91 kidnapping cases had been registered. This year, to date 65 cases have been registered. “Twenty-eight have been resolved; out of these 59 people have been caught while three have been killed,” he said.
As for snap kidnappings, he said in the last few weeks, around four cases had occurred, though they had not been reported and police learnt about them through sources. “One particular group has been identified and will be soon brought to justice,” Mr Awan added.
Apart from kidnappings for ransom, the city has also witnessed an increase in other crimes in Ramazan when, the CPLC chief suggested, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor is one of the driving factors behind the upsurge in crime.
The CPLC data shows that the first 18 days of September witnessed more than 1,700 cellphones snatched from Karachians, at an average of 98 per day. The official said that though cellphone snatching continued at a staggering pace, the number has declined to some extent over the last few years due to efforts made by the police and the institutions concerned.
“We have also managed to recover some 17,000 snatched phones and arrested several individuals and gangs running the network,” added Mr Memon.
Vehicle snatching, however, has been a cause of concern for the law enforcers, as during the first 18 days of September, 358 cars were taken away by gangsters at gunpoint, at an average of 19.88 per day. Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Clifton and North Nazimabad towns remained the hot-spots of this criminal activity, as 74, 52 and 50 cars were taken away respectively from these localities.
An alarming increase in motorcycle snatching had also been witnessed during the first 18 days of September, as some 1,001 motorbikes were snatched in the city. Saddar, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and New Karachi towns registered a higher number of such incidents where 202, 91, 85 and 85 bikes were snatched, respectively.