LARKANA / KARACHI: Mob attacks on branches of an international fast food chain persisted in Sindh as two of its outlets were attacked in Larkana and Karachi by large groups of religious activists, officials said on Thursday.

The Larkana police registered an FIR against 60 suspects and claimed to have arrested eight of them. In Karachi, the law enforcers detained 10 suspects.

Korangi SSP Mohammed Tariq Nawaz said around 40-60 suspects stormed the restaurant in the Korangi Industrial Area and tried to ransack it. He said that the police took swift action, resorted to a baton charge against the suspects and detained 10 of them. However, other suspects others managed to flee.

He said an extra police contingent had been deployed at the outlet to ensure its security.

Police arrest 18 suspects in Larkana and Karachi

In Larkana, the police claimed to have thwarted an attempt by a large group of protester to ransack an outlet of the fast food chain on Wednesday night.

They said they received information that a large mob carrying stones and pistols was moving towards the outlet located on Station Road.

Larkana SSP Ahmed Chudhry told reporters that around 100 people, who were protesting against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, turned violent when they reached the outlet and started pelting stones at it.

A policeman, Waqar Ahmed Jalbani, suffered a head injury after he was hit with a stone and was taken to the Chandka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The police registered a case against 60 suspects under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Sections 6 (terrorism) and 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 at the Dari police station.

Eight held suspects were produced before the Anti-Terrorism Court, which remanded them in police custody for three days.

Earlier this week, dozens of TLP activists had been arrested for their alleged involvement in ransacking multiple outlets of the fast-food chain in Karachi. An outlet in Mirpurkhas was torched by miscreants a day before.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025