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As evening falls in Karachi, millions of citizens begin their journey home, but for many, the commute is overshadowed by a growing fear: what if armed robbers stop them before they reach their destination?
Some carry office bags, others have bought things for their children, while many have their mobile phones containing family photographs and their day’s hard-earned money. Yet, a robbery lasting just a few moments can sometimes cost a person his life. A single bullet fired for a mobile phone, cash or motorcycle can permanently deprive a family of a father, son, husband or breadwinner.
This is the grim reality facing Karachi, where 48 citizens have so far been killed in firing by robbers during street crime incidents this year.
These 48 deaths are not merely figures in a government file. They represent 48 families whose lives have been permanently changed. There are children whose fathers will no longer return home, elderly mothers waiting in vain for their sons, and widows left to cope with grief as well as the financial burden of running their households.
For the victims’ families, the robbery may have lasted only a few minutes, but its consequences will last a lifetime.
Figures from January through August provide a stark picture of the severity of street crime in Karachi. Ten citizens were killed in January, five in February, seven each in March and April, and nine in May after robbers opened fire during robbery attempts. One citizen was killed in June, five in July and three have so far been killed in August.
In other words, by the end of the eighth month of the year, Karachi’s streets have witnessed the deaths of 48 citizens at the hands of robbers.
Besides killings, Karachi recorded more than 34,000 street-crime incidents during the first seven months of 2026, with motorcycle and car theft and snatching, mobile-phone snatching and extortion remaining major threats to citizens, according to crime statistics compiled by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).
The figures showed that 3,089 motorcycles were snatched and 18,875 stolen between January and July, bringing motorcycle-related theft and snatching to 21,964 incidents. During the same period, 119 cars were snatched and 849 stolen, while 10,962 mobile phones were snatched from citizens.
The CPLC data further showed that 98 extortion cases and 312 murder cases were reported in Karachi during the first seven months of the year.
The overall figures indicate that motorcycle-related crime remains the biggest component of street crime in Karachi, with almost 22,000 motorcycles either stolen or snatched in seven months. The scale of the problem also highlights the financial impact on citizens, particularly delivery riders, daily-wage workers, small traders and employees who depend on motorcycles for their livelihoods.
The situation remained particularly serious in July, when more than 5,000 street-crime incidents were reported, according to the CPLC’s monthly statistics.
During the month, 3,140 motorcycles were either snatched or stolen. Of these, 492 were snatched and 2,648 were stolen, meaning an average of around 101 motorcycles were lost every day.
The July figures also show that 1,846 mobile phones were snatched, averaging nearly 60 phones a day.
Four-wheeler crime also remained a concern, with 12 cars snatched and 110 stolen, bringing the total number of cars either stolen or snatched during July to 122.
The situation becomes even more alarming as citizens are increasingly advised to take precautions themselves to protect their lives. Hiding mobile phones, avoiding deserted roads, repeatedly looking back while riding a motorcycle, fearing to venture out late at night and being told not to resist if confronted by robbers have all become part of everyday life in Karachi.
But the question remains: How long can citizens be expected to live under a constant shadow of fear?
Senior Karachi police officials have repeatedly claimed that street crime has been declining. Police regularly issue details of arrests, weapons recovered and alleged encounters in which suspected criminals are killed.
Undoubtedly, action against criminal elements is part of the police’s responsibility. But for ordinary citizens, the real measure of police performance is much simpler: How safe are they on the streets?
If a citizen is killed while his mobile phone is being snatched, statistics about the number of suspects arrested mean little to his family. A police press release cannot bring a dead father back to his children, nor can it restore the breadwinner taken away from a widow in a matter of moments.
For Karachi’s citizens, the real demand is not simply more arrests or more police encounters — it is the basic right to return home alive.
Questions over the performance of the Karachi police are not limited to street crime. Citizens and various circles have also repeatedly raised allegations that gambling and betting dens are allegedly operating in several parts of the city with the alleged connivance, negligence or patronage of local police.
If these allegations are substantiated, the issue goes beyond an illegal activity and raises serious questions about the policing system itself.
