KARACHI: Caretaker Information Minister Ahmad Shah on Tuesday said that police were working to protect the life and property of people in the province despite having inadequate resources.

Addressing a press conference along with Inspector General of Police Riffat Mukhtar and Additional IG Karachi Khadim Hussain Rind, he said that the police and administration kept the city active and lively on the New Year Eve.

`Although the police have less resources, still they are working and making sacrifices for people,` he said and added that the provincial gov-ernment could not provide thenecessaryresourcesto the police in proportion to the population.

The IGP said that police were accountable to the government and the people. `We have to work within our available resources at all times but are working to increase resources,` he said, adding that every effort was being made to establish trust in police and come up to the expectations of people.

The provincial police chief said that an intelligence-based operation was being conducted in thekatcha(riverine)area.

Giving the details of crime and police performance in the city last year , Additional IG Karachi said that 551 cases wereregistered and 364 of them were detected and 590 suspects were arrested.

He said that half of the victims belonged to upcountry who were killed due to personal enmities and most of the murderers left city after committing offences.

The city police chief said that as many as 77 accused persons were arrested in 2023 and 55 abductees were recovered. He said that 22 abductees were recovered after payment of ransom.

He said that as many as 63 suspects were killed and 7,268 suspected robbers were arrested in1,193 encounters during the past one year.

AIG Rind said that four vehicle lifters were killed and 3,998 suspects were arrested in carjacking cases.

He said that as many as 110 Afghan nationals were arrested in different cases, including four murder cases, in the city during the last year.

Besides, the city police chief said, 2,308 illegal Afghan immigrants were arrested last year.

He said that as many as 58,852 Afghans were checked in the city and 5,7805 of them were released after verification of documents, while 1,042were deported.

He said that the security situation in the city had improved to a remarkable extent. `Karachi was ranked lith among the world`s most dangerous cities 10 year ago and this year it is ranked 126th, he added.

The city police chief said that street crime had shown a declining trend in the city. `Operations against illegal Afghan immigrants reduced crime in the city,` he added.