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Police in Karachi have killed nearly 200 suspected street criminals in alleged encounters during the first 10 months of 2026, marking an 80 per cent increase compared to the 109 suspects killed during the corresponding period last year. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) raised concern over the sharp rise in extrajudicial killings, as reported by Dawn.
According to Dawn, data maintained by Karachi police highlights that 197 suspects were killed in 1,437 police encounters between January 1 and October 25. Another 1,426 suspects sustained injuries, representing a 67.9 per cent increase from the 849 suspects injured during the same period in 2025. The overall number of encounters also rose by 71 per cent from 840 last year. HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt criticised the growing number of fatalities, describing deaths during police encounters as extrajudicial killings. He stated that a practice previously associated with Punjab police appeared to be spreading to Karachi. Referring to the HRCP's recent fact-finding exercise in Punjab, Butt said approximately 1,000 suspects had been shot dead in alleged encounters over eight months. He also questioned the effectiveness of such operations, recalling that the emergence of terms such as 'full fry' and 'half fry' had failed to reduce criminal activities. Butt argued that improving public security required professional policing, scientifically conducted investigations and judicial reforms rather than killing suspects. Meanwhile, two senior Karachi police officials defended the operations, maintaining that the encounters were genuine and generally followed complaints from robbery victims. They attributed the increase to intensified patrolling, snap-checking and the expansion of the Shaheen Force across multiple districts, as highlighted by Dawn. However, official statistics did not disclose how many police personnel were injured during the 1,437 encounters. Karachi police chief Azad Khan also did not respond to questions concerning accountability mechanisms and investigations into encounter deaths, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)
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