LARKANA, Feb 25: Disciples and sympathisers of spiritual leader and custodian of Dargah Hussain Abad in Qambar town Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah Bukhari blocked highways and main roads in Qambar, Larkana, Shahdadkot, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Hyderabad on Monday.

They were demanding arrest of culprits involved in a deadly bomb attack on the spiritual leader’s motorcade near Ahmed Din Brohi village, five kilometres from Jacobabad, over a week ago on Feb 20, in which his grandson, Syed Shafique Hussain Shah, 17, died and seven of his disciples suffered injuries.

In Larkana, the protesters staged sit-ins on all main roads and bridges over the Rice Canal near Chandka Medical College and Lahori regulator, much to the inconvenience of schoolchildren and their patients who were not allowed to get across the bridges to pick their children from schools.

The protesters also blocked the Otha chowk, a junction of Larkana-Khairpur and Moenjodaro roads and made a large number of commuters suffer hardships.

Hafiz Ahmed Ali Abbasi, divisional president of Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani group), Mohammad Ali Hussaini and Molvi Mohammad Amin led the demonstrations and sit-ins.

The leaders demanded arrest of the criminals involved in the bomb attack and said they were compelled to take the extreme step as the government had ignored their demands. They appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of the incident.

In Qambar town, the native town of Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah Bukhari, his disciples staged sit-ins on the Ratodero bypass, and all roads leading to Larkana, Shahdadkot, Shikarpur and adjoining towns.

On Saturday, soyem of Syed Shafique was held at Hussain Abad which was attended by hundreds of Syed’s disciples from all over the country. Quran Khawani was held and wreaths were laid on the grave. Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah offered a collective prayer for his grandson.

In Shahdadkot, Syed’s devotees led by Qari Ahmad Dero, Faqeer Nazar Mohammad Hussaini and Mohammad Yunis Selro blocked all roads by staging sit-ins. They criticised rulers and hit out at the SSP Jacobabad for his failure to arrest the killers.

In Jacobabad, activists of the Hussaini Jamaat took out a procession in protest against the bomb attack on their spiritual leader’s motorcade and staged a sit-in on the National Highway at Sakhi Mehar Shah where the highway connects Sindh with Balochistan and Punjab.

The protesters’ leaders Mohammad Sharif Soomro, Munir Ahmed Hussaini and Moulvi Moula Bux Hussaini said that police’s failure to arrest the culprits was causing disappointment and unrest among Syed’s disciples.

They demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and warned they would continue their protests and sit-ins till the culprits were arrested.

Meanwhile, president of Jamiat Uelama-i-Islam-Fazl Jacobabad chapter, Dr A.G. Ansari, said that police had arrested eight JUI workers after raids on Ahmed Din Brohi village.

The activists Rahmatullah Khakhrani, Haq Nawaz Brohi, Hazoor Bakhsh Brohi, Mohammad Essa Khakhrani, Dost Ali Brohi, Lutfullah Brohi, Mohammad Sadik Brohi and Altaf Brohi had nothing to do with the bomb attack, he said.

He said that he had talked to SSP Mohammad Yunis Chandio and urged him to release the innocent activists. If they were not released, the JUI-F would be compelled to stage protests, he said.

In Shikarpur, activists of Sunni Tehreek, Jamaat Ahle Sunnat and Wahdatul Muslimeen held a demonstration on the Shikarpur-Sukkur section of the National Highway and blocked it in protest against delay in arrest of the culprits.

The protesters demanded immediate arrest of the killers and threatened to launch a protest movement if the terrorists were not arrested.

Disciples of Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah Bukhari and activists of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) continued blockade of the National Highway at Sindh-Punjab border area between Chowk Mari and Kamoon Shaheed in Ubauro town for the past 12 hours.

The activists also blocked almost all bypasses on the highway, forcing all traffic to come to a grinding halt.

The protest which was mainly led by leaders of the disciples continued till the filing this report. No official of district administration or police had reached there to persuade the protesters to lift blockade.