September 23, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 29, 1427

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HARIPUR, Sept 22: A mob here on Friday ransacked the Kotnajibullah railway station, a rural health centre and a police station and set on fire a vehicle of the health department during a protest against the killing of eight people by gunmen on Thursday.

Two policemen were injured when a police squad was pelted with stones by the protesters. One of the protesters, a boy, was injured after he was hit by a shell fired by police to disperse the crowd which was demanding immediate arrest of those involved in the firing.

Eight passengers were killed and four others injured when the assailants in a car opened fire on a Haripur-bound pick-up.

The passengers belonged to the village of Kotnajibullah where traders observed a complete strike.

About 2,000 protesters blocked the Haripur-Taxila road and Rawalpindi-Abbottabad roads at Kotnajibullah and Sera-i-Gadai early in the morning by burning used tyres and placing logs and branches branches of trees.

The traffic from both sides was diverted to Khanpur Road.

After negotiations and intervention by provincial Minister Akhtar Nawaz Khan, the protesters lifted the blockade on the Rawalpindi-Abbottabad road at around 3pm.

Traffic on the Haripur-Taxila road was restored at around 6.30pm when the protesters dispersed after heavy shelling by police.

The shelling left the boy, Ismail, injured. The policemen injured were constables Gulzar Shah and Arif. The injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital.

Because of the protests, the Karachi-bound Hazara Express carrying about 1,200 passengers had to return to Haripur from Kotnajibullah at around 5pm.

Haripur Station Master Javed Khan said he had ordered the driver to take the train because of concerns for the safety of passengers and the trains.

The train departed for Karachi at around 7.25pm.

The protesters also damaged some private vehicles.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leader Maulana Siddique, Sardar Abdul Rauf of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Sardar Mushtaq of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and other leaders held negotiations with Hazar Range police chief Zulfiqar Cheema and agreed to give police another 48 hours to arrest the assailants.

It is learnt that police detained more than 15 protesters.