KARACHI, Feb 3: Seven activists of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) were whisked away reportedly by the personnel of law enforcement agencies in plain clothes from outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday.

They were picked up after a rally, held there in protest against the military action in Balochistan, dispersed peacefully.

Clifton TPO, when contacted, expressed his ignorance about the matter, saying that police did not arrest anyone from outside the club.

Secretary-General of the JWP Agha Shahid Bugti told Dawn that as soon as the rally ended and participants were getting into their vehicles, some unknown armed personnel whisked away the seven JWP workers along with their vehicle.

“We are still unaware of the whereabouts of the workers,” he said, and described the incident as ‘a blatant instance of the government’s highhandedness’.

“It seems that the government is now snatching our right to hold peaceful demonstration here. We have long been denied this right in our own province (Balochistan),” he claimed.

Those allegedly picked up by the law enforcement agencies includes Mohammad Ayaz Bugti, brother of the Dera Bugti Nazim, Mohammad Kazim Bugti, according to party sources.

Earlier, over two dozen JWP activists gathered in front of the club and held a demonstration against the military action in Kohlu and Dera Bugti.

Several of them were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government and the army operation, as well as portraits of their party chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti, in their hands.