KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday demanded additional powers for paramilitary Pakistan Rangers to deal with street crimes in Karachi after the police `f ailed` to take up the challenge.

In a statement, parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly Khurrum Sher Zaman blasted Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shahover the ineffectiveness to tackle street crimes in Karachi over the past 11 months of the ongoing year.

He said that during the last 11 months 81,000 incidents of street crime had been reported in Karachi alone in which 518 people were either killed or wounded just for putting up resistance.

He said that the incidents of street crimes and their related violence were appalling and exposed the ineffectiveness of the province`s chief minister, Sindh Inspector General of Police and CCPO Karachi Police.

Mr Zaman said: `If the Karachi Police cannot do its basic responsibility to protect the lives and properties of the residents of Karachi, then a new force must be assembled from the people that live in this city.

The PTI leaders demanded additional powers for Rangers to deal with street crime cases as, they said, these criminals get released from police stations.JI holds citywide protests against street crimes The Jamaat-i-Islami, meanwhile, held protest demonstrations across Karachi observing `black day` against the growing lawlessness and street crimes in the city demanding justice for 21-year-old Bilal Nasir a student who was gunned down opposite to the NED University and Technology, which he was a student of, on Thursday.

The protest demonstrations were held outside the SSP Office Korangi, Hyderi Market, Burns Road, Lee Market, SSP Office Orangi, Water Pump Chowrangi and other prominent spots in the city.

Earlier in the day, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman held a press conference, lambasting the city police chief over his failure to curb street crimes and advising citizens to peacefully handover their valuables to muggers when conf ronted.