KARAK: Three traders were injured when a shopping centre was attacked with hand grenade in Karak city in broad daylight on Monday.

Police sources and local shopkeepers said that two identified motorcyclists lobbed a hand grenade at the shopping centre of Haji Tahir Ayub, the former president of the local traders association, in the main Karak bazaar. They said that Haji Tahir Ayub, his nephew Tehseenullah and Mir Sadat Khan sustained critical injuries in the grenade attack.

The motorcyclists managed to escape. The injured were rushed to the district headquarters hospital for treatment. However, Tahir Ayub was referred to a hospital in Peshawar due to his critical condition.

According to a press release issued by police, a suspect was arrested and handed over to counter-terrorism department for interrogation. The arrested person was shifted to unknown location.

Protesters demand arrest of attackers in three days

The press release said that police closed all entry points of the district after the incident and launched search operation to trace the attackers.

It is pertinent to mentioned here that a plaza owned by Tahir Ayub situated on Indus Highway and his guest house were also targeted with hand grenades in the recent past. No loss life had taken place in those attacks.

The press release said that Tahir Ayub was cautioned by police to restrict his movement and install CCTV cameras at his filling station, plaza and guest house but the attackers targeted his shopping centre.

The local traders staged a protest soon after the incident. The protesters were led by district president of traders Gul Razi Khan. The protesters blocked road at Saddam Chowk by burning tyres and observed shutter down strike in the city.

The protesters condemned the attack and announced to observed shutter down again on Tuesday (today). They said that lives and properties of traders were not safe. They demanded of the district police officer to arrest the attackers forthwith. They set a three-day deadline for the arrest of the attackers and threatened to launch a protest movement after expiry of the deadline.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2017