KARACHI - The worst law and order situation in the metropolis was witnessed during the first four months of the current year. As per data obtained though published reports, despite the imposition of prolonged ban on pillion ridding, some 350 people had lost their lives in road mishaps, including 135 persons were killed in the moth of April only. It is pertinent to mention here that the governments strategy of banning the pillion ridding in order to improve law and order and check the growing crime rate in the city has badly failed. In April, about 135 people were killed in ethnic clashes among the rival groups. The first major clash took place in Lyari Town where some 15 people were killed within 24 hours when the gangsters and resident of the area used highly sophisticated weapons including rocket launcher, hand garnets and machineguns. Sources confirmed that Hangoro community and various other ethnic groups joined hands against Rehman Dacoit but failed uproot his gang and most of the dead included common people. Similarly, ethnic riots, erupted on the same day, also claimed some 35 lives within 24 hours that spoke volumes about the inefficiency of the law enforcement agencies. These riots also caused heavy losses to the public and private property as some 60 vehicles and scores of shops were set on fire. The major incident taken place in the current four months was the toxic wine that claimed more than 60 lives while police failed to arrest the actual culprits involved. The data further showed that personal rivalry was the major cause behind majority of the killings and victims hailed from different areas of Pakistan. Most of the murderers had reached Karachi to take revenge on their rivals settled in the metropolis. A sharp rise was also witnessed in the kidnapping cases during this period. The available data revealed that some 20 people, including seven children, were kidnapped during the first four months of the current year. Source privy to the matter told that most of the kidnapped persons were later released after their families fulfilled the demands of kidnapers. The trend of kidnapping was particularly popular among the criminals as they got huge sums of money to release the captives. The data further revealed that some 300 people also died in traffic accidents and other mishaps. The last four months also witnessed a armed encounters in which as many as 25 robbers and 13 policemen lost their lives. Similarly, 33 people including women committed suicide while 32 passers-by crushed were killed in train accidents. Meanwhile, the Citizen Police Licenses Committee (CPLC) said that robbers had also deprived 4,836 people of their cell phones during this period while 1,500 cars 4,288 motorcycles were snatched or stolen during the last four months.