LAHORE: Lahore police registered 39,624 theft cases and 1,472 burglary cases in the first eight months of this year, according to police records.
That works out to roughly 163 theft cases every day, and about six burglaries a day, across the provincial capital.
Police records show Cantonment Division at the top of the theft table, with 9,290 cases. Saddar Division came second with 8,748 thefts and Model Town Division third with 8,348 cases.
City Division registered 5,696 theft cases and Iqbal Town 4,520. Civil Lines Division recorded 3,022 thefts this year.
The three leading divisions together account for 26,386 cases, about two-thirds of all thefts registered in the city.
The burglary figures follow a similar but not identical pattern. Cantonment Division again tops the list with 396 cases. Model Town Division is second with 326 burglaries and Saddar Division third with 322.
City Division reported 200 burglaries and Civil Lines Division 132. Iqbal Town Division reported 96, the lowest in the city.
The top three divisions together account for 1,044 burglaries, around 71 per cent of the total.
Iqbal Town stands out. It ranks fifth for theft with 4,520 cases but last for burglary with just 96. Different kinds of property crime appear to concentrate in different parts of the city. Street-level theft follows traffic, markets and parking. House-breaking tends to follow residential density and the security arrangements around homes.
The large sizes of Cantonment, Saddar and Model Town divisions also matter. They cover sprawling residential and commercial areas, busy markets and major transit routes, which naturally produce more reported cases.
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, theft covers dishonestly taking movable property, such as vehicles, motorcycles, phones or goods. Burglary, known locally as naqab zani, involves breaking into a house or premises, and the law treats it more seriously than ordinary theft.
Higher registration figures do not always mean more crime. They can also reflect easier registration through police front desks and online complaint systems, as more victims come forward. Year-on-year and division-by-division comparisons are needed for firm conclusions.
Recovery and conviction rates are not included in the records, and they are the clearest measure of police effectiveness.
The data comes as Lahore Police step up operations against proclaimed offenders and habitual criminals across the city.
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