KARACHI, Sept 10: Traffic jams were witnessed at a number of places on Wednesday night due to snap-checking of vehicles by the police in view of the 9/11 incident.

The people travelling in private vehicles or public transport were stranded in the deluge of traffic at various places, including Clifton, Metropole Hotel, Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and other areas. They complained about the ill-behaved attitude of police.

A man complained on telephone from Schon roundabout that he had to spend one hour to cover the distance from Clifton bridge to Schon roundabout. He said the police had been extensively conducting snap checking of vehicles and misbehaving with the citizens.

He said a truck (LSB-7243) was stopped in the middle of the road at Schon roundabout, and the police forced its driver Nadir to get down. He said the police allegedly beat the driver and took him away while leaving the truck in the middle of the road causing disruption in traffic flow.

Similar complaints were received from various other areas, where the police on the pretext of snap checking stopped motorcyclists and misbehaved with them. The police also detained a number of motorcyclists and released them allegedly after taking bribe.

The traffic jam was also witnessed on Rashid Minhas road at Jauhar Mor, where the road was being constructed. The situation aggravated when police started conducting snap checking while people were trapped in the flood of vehicles.

A commuter, travelling in a public transport, called Dawn and said that the way the police had been conducting snap checking was disgusting. The police had made the whole city as hostage on the pretext of snap checking.

The complainants were of the view that the police had been harassing citizens by carrying out body search of people and asking them humiliating questions. “They also checked vehicles and people through sniffer dogs, which was insulting. It is not the way to nab criminals or terrorists, but the police have been terrorizing people and losing public confidence in them,” said one of the complainants on telephone.

However, the police in a statement said the world would mark second anniversary of the deadly attack on World Trade Centre in Washington DC. As a result, the police had enforced certain # additional measures to deal with any eventuality. Although there was no specific threat, but in the light of events took place over the past two years, the police could not afford any ignorance in this regard.

According to the statement, the measures taken by the police included increased checking of vehicles in view of a car bomb explosion on the US consulate in May 2002. Therefore, strict checking of vehicles would be ensured in the areas surrounding the US consulate and five star hotels, added the statement.

Besides, body search of suspicious pedestrians and motorcyclists, checking explosive materials by especially trained sniffer dogs, and a ban on certain vehicles including taxis, rickshaws, motorcycles, Suzuki pick-ups and vans, on Abdullah Haroon road, were also among the security measures taken by the police.