RAWALPINDI: More than a hundred people staged a protest on Misrial Road on Wednesday against encroachments and negligence by the civic authorities, after a man was killed over parking a rickshaw on Tuesday night.

Shoaib Ullah was gunned down by a roadside vendor when his brother-in-law Azmat Ullah, who is a rickshaw driver, asked the vendor to remove his belongings from the roadside so he could park his vehicle.

A fight had broken out between the vendor and Azmat with the vendor hitting the rickshaw driver with weighing stones. Shoaib Ullah was gunned down when he intervened.

Residents of Misrial Road staged a protest on Wednesday against negligence by civic authorities and the traffic police, who they said were not taking action against encroachments.

The protester shouted slogans against civic authorities and said officers made money by allowing vendors and hawkers to occupy roads and footpaths, not leaving space for pedestrians and parking.

Member Cantonment Board and PML-N activist Malik Mansoor Afsar lead the protestors, who gathered on the road at about 11:30 am and blocked traffic by setting tyres on fire.

The protest continued for more than an hour which caused problems for motorists and pedestrians and long queues of cars could be seen on either side of the road.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Afsar said he was leading the protest despite being a member of the Cantonment Board and that he had to stand by the people who had elected him.

He said that after the Shoaib’s death the previous night due to a dispute over parking, the shopkeepers of the area had vowed to not allow a vendor or a hawker do business in front of their shops as it causes traffic and parking problems.

Soon after, senior police officials flanked by reinforcement police reached the protest site and assured the crowd that the killers will be arrested soon and that the encroachment issue will be taken up with the concerned authorities after which the protestors dispersed peacefully at about 12:30 pm.

Sub-Inspector Qasir Naseem, who is leading the investigation into the murder, said three people had been nominated in the FIR and that none of the suspects had been arrested so far.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2016