SUKKUR, Aug 24: The police baton-charged hundreds of protesters on Saturday at Nara in front of Sawan Gas Field No 1, who were protesting against a multinational company for not employing the local people.

The police have arrested 22 youths and kept them at Sohra police station.

Three multinational companies, LASMO, MVO and KALAF, are busy in exploring gas and oil in the Nara area, Khairpur district. The local population has repeatedly protested against the recruitment policies of these companies.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of protesters assembled in front of the Sawan gas field and staged a sit-in to protest against the recruitment policy of the company.

Receiving a complaint, the Sohra police reached the spot and subjected the protesters to baton-charge, which injured several persons, later they arrested 22 protesting youths including, Gul Mohammad Maher, Khalid Rid, Mushtaq Ahmed, Zubair Khan, Rustam Ali, Ghulam Serwer, Irshad Ahmed, Fida Hussain and Atta Hussain.

tension: A tense situation developed when retired major Gulzar of the Pakistan Railways Monitoring Team ordered the police to arrest Sukkur District Naib Nazim Iqbal Dawood when they were busy in the anti-encroachment campaign in a kutcha abadi near Station Road here on Saturday.

When the Railways team began demolishing houses, the Naib Nazim reached there and tried to convince the team that they should not demolish the houses without giving prior notice to their residents.

Gulzar answered that they were issued the notices two years back and disliking the intervention of the Naib Nazim, he ordered the “B” Section police to arrest him.

However the “B” section SHO, Tahir Mughal, refused to arrest the Naib Nazim on the plea that the orders should be given by his bosses.

The situation created a furor among the people of the area who began raising slogans against the Railways.

Later, Gulzar told journalists that the Revenue Department was creating a misunderstanding between the Railways Department and the Sukkur district government.

He said interference in the anti-encroachment campaign of the Railways Department by the district government could not be tolerated.

He said the Railways would launch its operation again on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, District Nazim Syed Nasir Hussain Shah took a serious notice of the situation and said it was a mockery with elected people.

He appealed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomor to hold a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Injured: Four persons were injured in a road accident on the National Highway, near Kot Bungalow, Khairpur district.

A car (No320.52) was coming from Karachi when it dashed into a tractor trolley, near Kot Bungalow, as a result three people in the car, Ghulam Rasool, 30, Farzana, 28, Nazar Hussain, 30, and a boy, Adil Rasool, were injured.

They were admitted to the Taluka hospital, Ranipur.