KARACHI: Two days after he presented a charge sheet against all civic agencies in the metropolis, caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar on Monday minced no words in taking police to task when he declared that all illegal activities being carried out across the province were being `patronised by the police He painted a gloomy picture of the law and order situation in the metropolis and other parts of Sindh while reviewing the overall law and order situation in the province during a meeting held here.

A spokesperson for the CM House said that Justice Baqar observed that the crime rate, particularly the street crime in Karachi and Hyderabad, had increased while the Sukkur and Larkana ranges had shown no tangible progress in curbing criminal activities of dacoit gangs in the riverine areas.

`How can we show our face to the people if policemen commit robberies in the city,` he said in a thinly veiled reference to the alleged involvement of a DSP in a Rs20m robbery during a raid on the house of a trader in Orangi Town.

Justice Baqar said that police stations were not being inspected and the people of Karachi were being robbed on a daily basis.

He directed the inspector general of police (IGP) to curb street crime by all means and relieve those officers from services who did not prove themselves equal to the job.

IGP concedes surge in street crime Briefing the CM about overall crime statistics and police performance, the IGP said that the street crime in the metropolis had shown a surge due to the divided focus of Karachi police on repatriation of illegal immigrants, antismuggling and anti-electricity theft campaigns.

He said that repatriation of illegal immigrants was going well, while effective measures had been taken for the security of foreigners working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and nonCPEC projects.

The IGP said that during 2023 as many as 1,660 people were killed, 232 kidnapped and 155 extortion cases were reported. He added that out of 229 kidnapping for ransom cases, 44 were from Karachi, three from Hyderabad, one Shaheed Benazirabad, 45 Sukkur and 136 cases were reported from Larkana.

Traffic jams The CM also took exception to frequent traffic jams in various parts of the city in the evening peak hours.

He was told that there were 43 choking points in the city where traffic remained clogged due to multiple reasons.

`If there is any issue of traffic signals, get them fixed,` he ordered.