KARACHI, Dec 23: Tension gripped Shah Beg Lane and Baghdadi union council areas on Sunday morning after a councillor and an area resident were arrested.

On Saturday night the area police raided the houses of the Naib Nazim of UC-6, Ghulam Nabi Afshari, and a representative of the Shah Baig Welfare Alliance, Yusuf Lasi, and arrested them.

This caused resentment among the area residents who staged a protest rally outside Karachi Press Club on Sunday afternoon, which was followed by a sit-in on a road in Chawkiwara in the evening.

The protesters carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in support of their demands marched on various streets of UC-5 and UC-6 and raised slogans against the Lyari Town Nazim and KWSB officials.

They called for immediate release of the Naib Nazim and one of his colleagues and threatened that they would staged a sit-in in front of the Lyari Town Office on Monday.

Police confirmed the two arrests under various sections, saying the arrests had been made on an FIR (No 304\2001) lodged by Imam Bakhsh on 11-12-2001.

However, the Alliance in a press release termed the arrests “downright victimization,” saying the Alliance and its leaders were being victimized for organizing a protest rally against the water shortage problem in the locality.

It accused the Lyari Town Nazim of harassing the residents of the locality by arresting his opponents, which forced the people to come out on the roads.

The Baloch Ittehad chief, Anwar Bhaijan, also condemned the arrests and warned PPP leaders to stop the victimization of opponents.

He said the local leadership of the PPP had failed to solve the water shortage problem in the locality which needed to be solved at the earliest.

He said the BIT would also join the protest movement against water shortage problem and would hold protest rallies.

The water shortage problem has been persisting in Lyari Town for the past three months and residents of the affected areas have also been regularly staging protests against the problem.

Despite repeated assurances by the Karachi Nazim and KWSB officials, the problem remains unsolved.

Last month KWSB officials levelled seriously charges against elected representatives of local bodies for shifting water connections, awarding contracts and works in the Towns to their favourites, changing water schedule, non-cooperation in scheduled valve operations and executing works on a self- finance basis.

These charges were rebutted by the Town Nazim in his letter dated 24-11-2001 which was also sent to the DCO Karachi.

However, the residents blamed vavlemen and the water mafia for creating an artificial water shortage in the locality by shifting water connections and changing the water schedule.