KARACHI: Transporters in the early hours of Thursday ended their lengthy protest sit-in on the main Superhighway (now Motorway-9) near Kathore over killing of their three colleagues and injuries to two others during a clash with toll tax collectors and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) guards over an issue of overloading on Wednesday evening.

The blockade was ended and traffic resumed on the busy highway after successful talks between the protesters and a government team comprising provincial minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, MNA Aga Rafiullah, DIG East Amir Farooqi, FWO officials and others, according to officials.

DIG Farooqi told Dawn that “transport association members, area’s elected people and senior officers of the FWO played a positive role in calling off the road blockade”.

“(The) assurances were given by the FWO that a thorough probe will be done into the whole incident and those responsible will be dealt as per law,” added a senior officer.

Motorway blockade lasts over seven hours

“FIR is registered as per request of those aggrieved,” said DIG Farooqi and vowed that “investigation will be done on merit”.

“The FWO will bear the cost of medical treatment of those injured and will contribute towards well-being of the families of the deceased,” revealed the police chief of Karachi’s East zone.

The minister told reporters that after successful talks, the transporters have ended their protest. An FIR would be registered against the personnel for killing of three persons.

Mr Baloch said that he held talks with the representatives of the transporters’ union under directions of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

A Motorway police spokesperson said the traffic was resumed on the Superhighway between 2.30am to 3am on Thursday after a protest lasting over seven hours.

According to Memon Goth police, FIR (232/2019) has been registered on the complaint of a transporter and relative of one of the victims, Bashir Ayub, against the toll tax collection staff and the FWO guards under sections 302, 324 and 34 of Pakistan Penal Code.

According to contents of the FIR obtained by Dawn, the complainant said that for some personal work, he went to Ranipur, Khairpur, where he received a phone call that a clash had broken out between the toll tax collectors and transporters at Toll Plaza link road where the FWO guards allegedly resorted to firing, killing Niaz Ali, 30, Saad Ayub, 25, and Mohammed Rasool, 29, and injuring two others namely Saeed Wali Shah and Humair Khan. The injured are under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The complainant said that after receiving such information, he returned to the city and when he reached the link road, he saw that transporters and truck drivers had blocked the M-9 in protest.

On query, he (complainant) was informed by the protesting drivers that their colleagues were allegedly shot dead and injured by FWO security guards.

The complainant claimed that the drivers had been subjected to “undesirable attitude” for the past one week, therefore several vehicles were stopped there owing to which the incident took place, as per contents of the FIR.

Background of clash

According to DIG Farooqi, the clash erupted over an issue of “axle load regime”. The senior officer pointed out that recently, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan had given a judgment under which restrictions had been imposed on heavy vehicles for carrying certain amount of load ostensibly to save the highways from possible destruction and avoid fatal accidents.

FWO personnel were trying to implement the SC verdict. In protest, the drivers of loaded vehicles started parking heavy vehicles on the link road between Motorway and the National Highway near Kathore.

When the FWO personnel tried to prevent them from doing so, the transporters allegedly pelted stones on them and the FWO personnel resorted to firing, ostensibly to disperse them, said Mr Farooqi.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019