KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday arrived in Karachi on his first-ever visit to the country’s economic hub since taking oath as the country’s premier for the second time earlier this year.
Soon after landing in Karachi PM Shehbaz visited the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to pay his respects to the founder of the nation.
During the day-long visit, PM Shehbaz is expected to hold meetings with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Governor Kamran Khan Tessori.
The premier will also meet notable members of the city’s business community, including a delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the PM Office said in a statement.
In these meetings, the prime minister will seek suggestions from the business community regarding the improvement of the country’s economy.
Matters related to the law and order situation and governance issues will come under discussion during his interaction with the governor and chief minister.
The issue of increased crime rate is likely to top the agenda as Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) — Shahbaz’s coalition partner — had threatened to launch protests and quit the government if the situation is not brought under control.
MQM-P is at odds with the ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) government (PPP) in Sindh over the increased crime rate in the city, while the provincial authorities have blamed the caretaker setup for the current situation.
Apex body okays plan to curb street crime
In its 31st meeting on Monday, the provincial apex committee decided to intensify measures to eliminate the menace of street crimes and abductions for ransom to address the increasing trends of armed robberies and activities of katcha (riverine area) bandits.
It was decided to adopt special measures for monitoring the sale of stolen or snatched mobile phones and vehicles as spare parts or in their complete form in the markets of Karachi.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon, while briefing the meeting, said that street crime particularly mobile snatching and four-wheeler and two-wheeler theft has decreased due to improved policing, however, the cases of four and two-wheeler snatching have shown a slight increase.
Comparative figures for the first three months (January to April) of 2023 and 2024 indicate a decrease in the number of theft cases reported, according to the briefing given to the body.
In 2024, 15,345 two-wheelers were stolen which is 953 cases less than the 16,298 incidents reported in 2023. Similarly, the theft of four-wheelers decreased by 145 cases with 520 vehicles stolen in 2024 as compared to 665 in 2023.
The number of mobile phones snatched also showed a decline, with 6,813 cases reported in 2024 as compared to 8,688 in 2023, indicating a decrease of 1,875 cases. According to the statistics, there has been a significant increase in the snatching of four-wheelers and two-wheelers.
In 2023, 60 two-wheelers were snatched, and this number increased to 80 in 2024. Similarly, 1,805 two-wheelers were snatched in 2023, while the number of cases rose to 3,094 in 2024. However, the overall figures of street crime have shown a decrease of 1,613 cases.
In 2023, 27,680 cases of street crime were registered, while the number decreased to 26,067 in 2024. The meeting was reported that the police conducted 467 encounters in 2024. In these encounters, 67 criminals were killed, 489 were injured and 1,766 were arrested. The weapons recovered from the criminals included one SMG, 2,111 pistols, 30 rifles, seven shotguns and 18 grenades.
