NAWABSHAH: Scores of residents of Daur taluka on Monday took out a rally which turned into a demonstration outside the local press club here on Monday in protest against former special assistant to the Sindh chief minister, Ismail Dahiri.

Dahiri, said to be a close aide to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, was arrested along with his brother and 45 associates on June 27 in a raid carried out on his house by a joint team of Rangers and police in Nawabshah.

Arms and ammunition in a big quantity as well as dozens of mobile phones and other articles were seized in the raid.

The protesters led by Haji Mohammed Bachal Jamali, Ameer Ali Jamali, Abdul Rehman Brohi and others alleged that Dahiri was a criminal who had encroached upon thousands of acres of agricultural land of poor peasants.

They claimed that Dahiri had illegally occupied 135 acres owned by Haji Mohammed Bachal Jamali near Bandhi with the help of his armed men and threatened them with dire consequences if they protested against it.

They also alleged that Dahiri had made the entire taluka a no-go area for the general public but the then administration did not take any action against him and his men despite several protests in the past. They demanded registration of a case against Dahiri and restoration of justice to them.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018