Karachi, Apr 19 (IANS): Karachi has witnessed an unprecedented spike in the number of street crimes during the January to March period this year, that claimed the lives of 98 people, a media report said on Monday.

The data compiled by security administration and gathered by Dawn news revealed that residents of the city lost millions of rupees in armed robberies and snatching at gunpoint in the said period.

Among other acts of robbery and mugging, the was a spike in the number of cell phone and motorbike snatching at gunpoint.

The number of snatching and theft of four-wheelers remained high during the first three months of 2021 as a total of 477 cases were reported, according to the data.

The data also showed that during the first three months of 2021, Karachi police registered five cases of kidnapping for ransom.

No such case was reported during the entire first quarter of the last year.

Of the 98 victims, 34 were killed while putting resistance to armed bandits.