Complete strike was observed in Hafizabad

Hafiz Muhammad Aziz-ur-Rehman

HAFIZABAD: Complete strike was observed in Hafizabad, Pindi Bhattian, Sukheke Mandi, Jalalpur Bhattian and other towns of the district to protest against, what was alleged, the police crackdown on the sit-in activists in Islamabad.

Several rallies were taken out in the city which blocked most of the city roads. The interchange at Pindi Bhattian, Kot Sarwar and Bhaka Bhattian remained closed and hundreds of vehicles remained standard outside the interchanges due to closure of motorway. The police patrolled the city roads and there was no untoward incident reported from any place of the city till the filing of the report.

However, a villager was killed while four others seriously injured by police firing on the protesters, who blocked the Lahore-Sargodha road near Thathi Behlolpur (Pindi Bhattian tehsil).

According to sources, the villagers took out a rally and blocked the road. When police reached the spot there was hide and seek between the protesters and the policemen. When the police appealed them to disperse, the protesters started brick-batting on the police as a result of which some COPs received injuries. Thereupon, the police opened firing as a result of which Abu Sufyan son of Saifullah died on the spot, while Jahangir, Zahoor Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmad and Manzoor Ahmad sustained serious wounds, who were shifted to the THQ Hospital from where two of them referred to Allied Hospital Faisalabad in critical conditions. The protesters raised slogans against the police and demanded arrest of the COP who caused the death of one of the protesters. The police are investigating.