With an ascension of 69 spots in the latest list of the World Crime Index, Islamabad has become one of the safest cities in the world. It stood at 232nd in the annual list last year but steadily progressed to the 301st spot in the current list, indicating a significant drop in the crime rate.
The reports stipulate that the crime rate decreased from 32.88% to 28.63% in one year. Interestingly, Islamabad is now safer than Sydney, Berlin, London, Moscow, Paris, and Shanghai.
Islamabad is now a safer city than London and Paris!
Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan 🇵🇰, has been ranked among the world’s safest cities. Its ranking is far better compared to Sydney, Berlin, Moscow, London, Paris & Shanghai.@pid_gov
Read more: https://t.co/LLAVPhNBWv pic.twitter.com/ylLzPO2ELT— Zubair Gilani (@GilaniZubair) January 21, 2020
The international organization, Numbeo issued the list following a survey in 374 cities with 799,900 participants. The survey addressed property crime, violent crimes, hate speech, drug dealing, and physical attacks.
IG Police Islamabad, Mohammad Amir Zulfikar hailed the rankings and credited the effective strategies of law enforcement agencies in Islamabad for improving safety in the federal capital. He reiterated that effective policing will continue to work for improved law and order in the city.
The spokesperson of the Islamabad Police claimed that the crime rate has dropped by 13% in Islamabad in 2019 while cases of burglary, snatching, kidnapping for ransom, and robbery have decreased substantially
Lahore stands at 230th with a crime rate of 37.43% and Karachi at 88th spot with a crime rate of 55.2%.
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Is Islamabad really safe?
While, international crime index claims a decline in crime rate in Islamabad, the release of national statistics earlier this month states otherwise.
The release of yearly statistics showed a spike in various crimes in the city that questioned the police’s effort and a massive reshuffle to tackle crime.
Tfw Pakistan is getting safer than France and UK lmao https://t.co/TOPjIVCXEf
— /r/worldnews (@r__worldnews) January 21, 2020
The statistics showed that at least 9000 crimes of varying nature were reported at 22 police stations in the city in 2019
The number is 1500 more than 2018’s figure of 7500 crime cases. At least, 100 people were murdered including an army official in Islamabad. This was slightly lower from 106 murder cases in 2018. However, more than 300 attempt-to-murder cases were reported in 2019 compared to 142 in 2018.
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Police also registered 2600 cases of robbery, theft, mugging and vehicle theft in Islamabad in 2019 compared to 2160 such cases in 2018. Moreover, kidnapping cases also increased in the federal capital; nearly 500 cases of kidnappings were registered in 2019 compared to 357 cases of kidnapping and molestation in 2018.
Islamabad Police, however, repudiated the reports of a surge in the crime rate in the city. The spokesperson of the Islamabad Police claimed that the crime rate has dropped by 13% in Islamabad in 2019 while cases of burglary, snatching, kidnapping for ransom, and robbery have decreased substantially.
#WelcomeToPakistan 🇵🇰🇵🇰#Islamabad is now a safer city than London and Paris!
Islamabad, the capital city of #Pakistan #APPNews #London #Paris #Shanghai #TuesdayMotivation #BeautifulPakistan #DestinationPakistan #Pakistan #VisitPakistan2020 pic.twitter.com/cE5MzkKx8L— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) January 21, 2020
The surge in crime statistics has raised a question mark on various administrative actions taken to tackle crime in the city. Virtually 500 police officials ranking from the inspector general to constables were transferred and posted around in a major reshuffle of the police.
The question stands, will the latest international statistics on the crime rate in Islamabad cease the trend of posting and reshuffle in the hierarchy of Islamabad Police?
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