KARACHI, Dec 4: A large number of people of Lyari led by a provincial minister of the Pakistan Peoples Party on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration on Mauripur Road against what they described as extrajudicial killings of innocent men in the strife-hit locality.

Carrying coffins of three men identified as Mushtaq, Wajid and Khalid, who had been killed in an alleged encounter with the police and Rangers on Tuesday night, the protesters, including women and children, chanted slogans against the law-enforcement agencies.

Vehicular traffic was suspended on the main arterial road for a considerable period as funeral prayers were also held on the road.

Minister for Kutchi Abadis Javed Nagori and MPA Sania Naz, both belonging to the PPP, told the media that these men had been arrested around two weeks ago and were killed in an alleged encounter on Tuesday night.

Mr Nagori said that they supported the ongoing Rangers-led operation against criminals, but ‘innocent’ people should not be targeted.

He claimed that over 24 men had been arrested and later killed in the encounters in Lyari recently.