Crime Rate Escalates in Rawalpindi During April
Rawalpindi police reported some 2,009 cases of street crimes were registered from January to mid March last year, whereas at least 1,783 this year
Besides stay-at-home orders and strict monitoring, the crime rate including incidents of robberies, thefts, mobile phone snatching, and motor theft has surged once again in Rawalpindi during April as compared to outgone month, March.
The police department statistics conclude that 312 motorcycles were stolen from different areas of the garrison city along with 50 cars and 27 other vehicles, including rickshaws and pick-up vans during the last month.
Some 159 citizens reported robberies of cash, gold jewelry, and other valuables.
The month of April registered some 167 cases of general theft, 150 street crime cases, 78 women kidnapping cases, and on average, 10 mobile phones were snatched every day throughout the month.
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Comparing with last year’s data, the Rawalpindi police reported that some 2,009 cases of street crimes were registered from January 1 to March 15 last year, whereas at least 1,783 cases have been reported by April this year.
The police statistics show that in every 24 hours in April, some 20 crimes were reported in the metropolitan city. However, the official data claimed that strict monitoring in Rawalpindi had brought down the incidents by 30% as compared to the last year.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage received by News360 showed an armed robbery incident at a mobile shop in the Dhok Kashmirian area in the precincts of Sadiqabad police station.
The reported cases showed a pattern that the criminals are usually aged between 15 and 35 years old while poverty, unemployment, excessive watchtime of action-thriller movies are serving as the root cause behind involvement of youth.
The rise in criminal activities in the ninth-largest city of Pakistan is due to the spread of coronavirus pandemic that has drastically changed the lives of many, bringing economic woes and unemployment.
A police spokesman said, “There had been a 30% decrease in crimes in Rawalpindi during the first four months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 when the covid-19 pandemic started”.
