KARACHI: At least 19 were killed and 55 injured over resisting robberies during Ramadan 2024 amid rising crime rate in Karachi.
According to a police official, the armed robbers gunned down 19 citizens in Karachi over robbery resistance during Ramadan.
Additionally, the killings in robberies have recorded a sharp increase in 2024 with a total of 56 killings and injuries to over 200 citizens so far.
During the January-April period last year, armed robbers shot dead 25 citizens while 110 people were injured over resisting robberies.
In 2023, as many as 108 people were killed and 469 were injured over robbery resistance.
Meanwhile, the Karachi police claimed a total of 425 shootouts with the robbers so far this year. Police claimed to have killed 55 dacoits while injuring 439 in these operations.
Earlier, a Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) report revealed that as many as 22,627 crimes were reported in the first three months (Jan-March) of 2024.
During the 91 days, 59 people lost their lives while resisting robberies in the port city, while over 700 people sustained injuries.
373 cars, 15,968 motorbikes and 6,102 mobile phones were snatched or stolen in Karachi during the first three months of 2024.
The CPLC report further said that 25 incidents of extortion and five incidents of kidnapping for ransom were reported in Karachi.
In this regard, Karachi Police Chief Additional Inspector General Imran Yaqoob had claimed that the majority of the persons committing crimes in the city were outsiders including those from interior Sindh and Balochistan.
Speaking to media representatives on April 9, Additional IG Imran Yaqoob said that approximately 400,000 ‘professional’ baggers and criminal elements turn to Karachi during Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr in Karachi.
According to him, the crime rate in the city was recorded at 166 cases per day which according to him was less than one per police station.
Briefing Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and other participants of a meeting on April 8, Imran Yaqoob said that the crime rate in the other big cities of other provinces was higher than Karachi.
