'Illegal settlers' behind rampant Karachi street crimes: minister

• Minister assures govt making all-out efforts to curb crime.
• Governor asks SIFC to reduce street crimes in Karachi.
• Mayor says crime on the rise from the last six months. 

Sindh’s senior minister Sharjeel Inam Memon Wednesday blamed “illegal settlers” for Karachi’s rampant street crimes, which took more than 10 lives during Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam.

Geo News has reported that 6,780 street crime incidents took place in Karachi in one month, while 20 vehicles were snatched and more than 130 others stolen. The report further revealed that 830 motorcycles were snatched and 4,200 others stolen during Ramadan.

Tens of thousands of street crimes were registered by the police in 2023, in which over a 100 people lost their lives, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had said, noting that the first quarter of 2024 has followed the same pattern.

“The Sindh government is making every possible effort to control street crimes [...] Illegal settlers are the cause of street crime,” Memon told reports after Eid ul Fitr prayers in Hyderabad.

Amid the unchecked rise in street crimes, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi Imran Yaqoob Minhas also revealed that 300,000 to 400,000 professional beggars head towards the metropolis during the month of Ramadan to cash in on the Eid season.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, while talking to reports in Karachi, termed Karachi street crimes a hindrance in economic prosperity. “The SIFC — the county’s civil-military body — should take responsibility for restoring peace to Karachi.”

In his presser, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the metropolis, which houses the most population in the country, has seen a rise in street crimes in the last six months.

“The law enforcement agencies are working to arrest the culprits,” he assured the masses.

A few days back, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had given a one-month ultimatum to the provincial authorities to restore law and order in the province amid rising incidents of street crime in Karachi.