KARACHI, April 21: In protest against the growing incidents of robberies in public transport, some transporters blocked Shahrah-i-Orangi on Saturday morning.

Long queues of minibuses were parked on the two-way road from Banaras to Metro Cinema. The transport operators accused the police of backing the robbers. They said the incidents were repeatedly occurring on the route and the police, well aware of the deteriorating situation, were not taking any action.

The protesting transporters said passengers were blaming them for hand in glove with the dacoits. In case of a robbery, they said, passengers started beating drivers and conductors. They said the incidents were repeatedly happening between Valika Hospital and Toori Bangash Colony.

They said Shahrah-i-Orangi was not safe anymore, especially in the evening. They said they did not report the incidents to police. “We are daily wagers and unable to pursue the police cases. If we kill a dacoit the rest of gangsters will not let us ply buses on the road,” the protesters said adding that a number of taxi drivers and motorcyclists were also looted on the main road near Chishti Nagar.

Some of the protestors said they would announce a one-day wheel jam strike to lodge their protest with the government. In this regard, a meeting of the transporters’ association would be called soon to decide future line of action.

Orangi police, when contacted, said two suspects Hafeez Ali, son of Mohammad Yar, and Mohammad Sabir, son of Mohammad Yousuf, were arrested after an encounter on April 18. It was said two TT pistols and three mobile phones were also recovered from their possession. It was said Head Constable Abdul Wali had received a bullet injury during the encounter. Police asked the transporters to register all cases with police so that proper investigation could be made.