May 08, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

QUETTA, May 7: Local businessmen observed a strike here on Wednesday in protest against the killing of a trader in a robbery bid.

The Anjuman-i-Tajiran and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party have given a call for another strike on Thursday.

All shopping centres and trading establishments in the main city area were closed soon after trader Sardar Mohammad was shot dead during an attempted robbery on the Zarghoon Road.

Protesters took the trader’s body in a procession to Bacha Chowk where leaders of Anjuman-i-Tajiran and PMAP addressed them.

They called off the protest after provincial Education Minister Shafique Ahmed Khan assured them on behalf of the chief minister that the robbers would be arrested.

Anjuman-i-Tajiran president Abdur Rahim Kakar and PMAP leader Nasrullah Zeray said several dacoities had taken place in the city in recent months and police had failed to protect the people.

Rahim Kakar and PMAP leader Qadir Agha later announced at a press conference that a strike would be observed in the city on Thursday in protest against growing lawlessness.