GUJAR KHAN Nov 29: Residents of Kahuta went berserk on Tuesday as they damaged a CNG filling station and several vehicles when the police tried to intercept them during their protest against low pressure and load shedding of the gas.

In the encounter with the police, more than a dozen protesters received injuries while an assistant sub inspector was also wounded.

The encounter started at about 2:30pm and was still going on till filing of this report while police re-enforcement had been called out from Rawalpindi, the sources said.

As per reports, the traders announced to observe a complete strike against low gas pressure and its load shedding as all the shops and commercial centers of the town were closed down. In the afternoon, a public rally led by Haji Jan Alam, president of traders association and Sardar Masood, city general secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) was taken out.

DSP Malik Irshad along with a police contingent arrived there and tried to negotiate with the protesters as he took the leaders of the protesters in the office of AL-Sameeh CNG station. The angry people started pelting stones at the CNG station and the situation went out of control.

When the police tried to stop them, the people turned violent and engaged in scuffle with the police personnel. They started stoning police officials, police van and the public transport at Rawalpindi-Kashmir Road. The police resorted to fire in the air and tear gas shelling but they could not disperse the angry protesters. According to the police sources, ASI Mohammad Ashraf sustained serious injuries while a number of locals as well as passengers were also wounded.

Meanwhile, the residents of different localities of Rawalpindi staged a protest demonstration against the non-availability of gas at Committee Chowk on Benazir Bhutto Road.

More than 100 men, women and children gathered at Committee Chowk blocked the road for more than two hours as they chanted slogans against the government and demanded that the gas supply must be restored in their areas without any delay.