Karachi
Police said on Saturday as many as 104 people were arrested for allegedly carrying out arson attacks on private and public property during rallies to mark Yaum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool a day earlier.
SSP South Asif Aijaz Shaikh recounted the horrors of violent protests that kept 7,000 police personnel on their toes as they fought pitched battles with unruly mobs throughout the day.
He told a press briefing at his office that police were investigating whether those arrested had any political affiliation.
SSP Shaikh said violence on Friday left at least 12 people, including two policemen, dead and another 134 wounded. The dead policemen were police head constable Muhammad Tufail and traffic police sub-inspector Muhammad Ilyas. Ilyas was a section officer of the Manghopir traffic kiosk. SSP Shaikh noted that arsonists torched five police mobiles, one armoured personnel carrier, three traffic police vehicles and two fire tenders. The miscreants also set fire to five private vehicles, five cinemas and six shops in various parts of the metropolis, he said.
According to the senior police official, protesters also looted seven banks and one ATM before torching them. Also, five wine shops and one arms shop were looted and damaged in different localities. A day after the death and destruction, the city was still reeling from the shock as employees of the torched banks and cinemas began assessments of the damage. Several arteries continued to remain blocked on Saturday, affecting the traffic flow. Trailers and containers were sitting across Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road at Shaheen Complex, the PIDC traffic intersection and the Chief Minister’s House.
Senior police officials, including the additional IGP and the DIG, family members and others offered funeral prayers for the slain head constable, Muhammad Tufail, at the police headquarters in the Garden area.
Funeral prayers for three activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, who also died in violence, were offered in the KPT Ground.
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