Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, on Monday admitted that over 200 people have fallen prey to the street criminals in the city while promising a fresh legislation during the Sindh Assembly session to curb the crimes.

He told the house that the government is going to legislate to punish the street criminals as showing concern over the killings of innocent people. "For me, the killing of one person is even a matter of concern," he said while replying to a query during the question-answer session.

The chief minister, however, insisted that peace has widely established in the city, but law and order is still challenged. He said that the Central District of the metropolis is plagued by the street crimes with the most cases reported. He said that the 18 percent crimes are recorded officially on a daily basis and promised that the government is ready for fresh legislation to introduce amendment to the existing law to ensure peace.

He also pointed out that the unemployment is one of the reasons behind the rising street crimes though the Sindh government will continue to discourage the trend. He said that the government has increased the level of intelligence with police while Rangers have been handed policing powers as well to restore the order.

He said that the snatching of motorbikes is one of the main crimes in the city, adding that the manufacturing have been convinced to set up a tracker system in bikes to overcome the menace. Talks with the PTA remained no headway on mobile phones, as the cells snatching is also the crime. He said that even an expensive mobile handset can be unlocked at Rs 2000.

Latter, the house also adopted a resolution against the proposed development of a hydropower plant at Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal with a majority vote. The resolution came from PPP's Aziz Junejo had tabled saying, that sea has eroded thousands of acres of land in Sindh's coastal areas. Opposition leader, Firdous Shamim Naqvi of the PTI also assured the house that his party will support Sindh cause and seek a complete water quota for his province.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019