Editorial
Extortionists back to work?
All forms of patronage must dry up
EXTORTIONISTS are back in business in the city. The house owners of Mirpur had to organise a rally recently to let people know how helpless they are, as organised extortionists are threatening them with dire consequences if they fail to meet their demands. Bombs and firearms have been used to scare people and a security guard of an under-construction house in Mirpur was shot dead by the extortionists on January 6, after they failed to find out the owner. That alone shows how desperate the criminals have become.
The police department itself has admitted that more than 300 extortionists are operating in the city, though a drive is on to arrest them. Similarly, there are around 50 groups of car thieves. Though the police claim that they succeed in recovering over 60 per cent of the cars, the owners have to undergo a great ordeal, if they are lucky enough to get back the stolen cars with many of their parts removed.
Now, we can ill afford to ignore the fact that extortionists are no ordinary criminals. In fact, their presence almost all over the country has a highly negative impact on the economy, as they cause price hike through taking hefty amounts of money from traders and transport owners. In some extreme cases, they set up a parallel system of collecting tolls on highways. The situation improved slightly after some initial crackdowns but it appears to be resurfacing again through a fault line in surveillance.
While there may be many reasons behind the growth and proliferation of this particular type of crime, the truth of the matter is that political patronization is the single-most important factor contributing to its presence on such a scale. The report published in this newspaper on January 17 states that many of the godfathers are involved in mainstream politics.
It has also been reported that the densely populated city has become a safe sanctuary for criminals being chased in the districts by the police. This is an aspect of the crime situation which the law enforcers have to take note of and wholeheartedly address. After all, an improvement in the crime situation in one area must not mean its worsening in another.
Actually, political parties will have to stand guard against giving any leeway to extortionists or criminals of any denomination in whatever guise they may appear.
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