Hundreds suffer due to sit-in on Shahra-e-Faisal

KARACHI: The protesters have now staged a sit-in at the main Shahrae-Faisal near Malir 15 against the arrests of religious leaders who were detained after sectarian killings in the metropolis.

The clashes between police and the agitators started early morning when the main artery was blocked for traffic crippling the civic life in the area. Hundreds of people were stuck on the road and all the schools were closed.

Railways traffic was also affected due to protests.

In the wake of the recent sectarian killings in Karachi, the law-enforcement agencies booked former senator Faisal Raza Abidi on Sunday for possessing an illegal weapon, raided Siddique-e-Akbar Masjid near Nagan Chowrangi - the headquarters of the banned outfit Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) - and arrested its general secretary Taj Mohammad Hanfi at a nearby location, and also rounded up Shia scholar Allama Mirza Yousuf Hussain of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen.

Abidi, a former Pakistan People’s Party senator, was arrested by Rangers in the wee hours of Saturday at his residence in New Rizvia Society. The paramilitary force had found sophisticated weapons at his home.

He was formerly booked and arrested by the Sachal police on Sunday.
Several other suspects from both the Sunni and Shia communities were also arrested on Saturday in connection with the sectarian killings.

The law-enforcement agencies had arrested Shia scholar Allama Mirza Yousuf Hussain of the MWM and shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation. He was presented before the court today in a hate-speech case registered at Shareefabad Police Station.