7,500 criminals to be e-tagged in southeastern Pakistan as street crime rises in Karachi

KARACHI: The provincial administration of Sindh on Wednesday announced its decision to e-tag thousands of criminals to monitor their movement as the country’s southern city of Karachi has witnessed a major surge in street crimes in recent months.
The technical and legal details of the plan are yet to worked out, though authorities are working on a draft legislation since the initiative is likely to raise concern among rights groups in Pakistan.
According to official statistics, 18 people have lost their lives in Karachi since the beginning of the year in various incidents of street crime.
It is also in this context that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved a police plan to e-tag criminals and create a pool of lawyers to provide legal assistance to families of street crime victims while chairing a high-level meeting earlier today.
“The meeting decided to e-tag some 7,500 offenders identified by the police in the first phase,” Rasheed Channa, the chief minister’s spokesperson, told Arab News.
“There is a precedent for this in the United States, but the adviser on law is working on a draft legislation in consultation with the police since human rights activists may object to this,” he continued. “The draft law will be vetted and presented for the cabinet’s approval before it is taken to the Sindh Assembly for its passage.”
Channa said the Sindh chief minister had earlier directed the police to start extensive patrolling and take strict action against street criminals.
He informed that additional inspector general (IG) of police of Sindh told the meeting on Wednesday that 143 criminals were killed and 147 injured in different shootouts between January 1 and February 28.
The IG police also said that 1,446 criminals had been arrested.
“Discussing the cancelation of bail of habitual criminals and the idea of strengthening prosecution, the chief minister instructed to engage a panel of leading lawyers to prosecute criminals and ensure cancelation of their bails,” Channa said, adding 7,179 people had been arrested for committing street crimes last year in which 3,666 were on bail and 3,513 had been acquitted “due to weak prosecution.”
Karachi, a city of at least 18 million people, was counted among the world’s most dangerous places until 2013 when the Rangers moved in to deal with different forms of violence and the crime rate significantly plunged since the city’s most wanted criminals were thrown behind bars.
However, Pakistan has once again witnessed an alarming increase in street crimes in Karachi which is home to the country’s main stock market and generates much of its tax revenue.
In 2019, 44 people were killed in the city and 282 others injured while resisting mugging attempts. In 2020, the number of dead rose to 51 in such incidents while 332 people were injured. In 2021, 72 died in armed robberies and 445 were injured.
This year, 10 people lost their lives during street crimes in January alone while 70 others were injured. In February, 8 people were killed in such incidents and over 100 others were injured.