SUKKUR: Enraged residents of Nihal Sohu village kept the Kotdiji section of the National Highway blocked for over 10 hours in protest against murder of a youth and alleged complicity of the area police in the killers’ escape.

The trouble started after the youth, Nazar Hussain Sohu, an employee of the Shah Abdul Latif University, was shot dead late Thursday evening. The bereaved family and a large number of local residents took out a procession and then blocked the nearby section of the highway with burning tyres and junk, demanding arrest of the killers. They placed the body in the middle of the road and kept raising slogans for several hours.

A police team headed by Kotdiji SHO Salim Dayo tried to disperse them and reopen the highway but they refused to end the protest until the suspects were arrested. The police had to fire shots into the air to disperse them when the crowd turned violent and forced the police to retreat.

A few hours later, the villagers returned to the place to resume their protest sit-in when they came to know that the suspects, along with their belongings and cattle heads had fled the village. They accused the police of facilitating their escape.

As the blockade prolonged into the 10th hour, PPP Khairpur district chief Nawab Khan Wassan, whose vehicle had also remained stuck in the snarl-up, walked up to the sit-in spot and heard their grievance. He pacified the protesters and asked the police to register the FIR as per the bereaved family’s desire.

Accordingly, a murder FIR was registered against Ali Mohammad, Amir Bakhsh, Naeem and Jummo — all belonging to the Rind community — and three unknown suspects on the complaint of deceased youth’s wife, Rozina Sohu, to get the highway cleared.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2025