The Karachi commissioner has imposed Section 144 in the city’s Central district that will last till Saturday following multiple recent incidents of heavy vehicles being torched along with mob attacks on several outlets of global fast-food chains.

At least nine dumper trucks and water tankers were set on fire by mobs on the night of April 9 near Power House Chowrangi and 4-K Chowrangi after a truck driver hit a motorcyclist, injuring him. Subsequently, 19 suspects and alleged arsonists were arrested and booked under terrorism and other charges.

Meanwhile, the city has also witnessed a spree of mob attacks on outlets of global fast-food chains, prompting religious leaders to urge the public to avoid violence and vandalism while boycotting products in support of Gaza.

In a notification dated April 11, Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi said a complete ban had been imposed on “all forms of protests, demonstrations, sit-ins, rallies, and assemblies of more than five persons to the extent of District Central” for today.

Section 144 is a legal provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.

The “same group” was behind the April 9 incident of heavy vehicles being set ablaze and the “attempt to attack outlets of KFC and other international brands”, the notification said, citing a report from the Central senior superintendent of police.

Five first information reports (FIRs) had been registered over the incidents, according to the notification.

It noted that “additional rallies are scheduled to take place” today in the Central District, noting the area “remains highly sensitive and susceptible to further law and order disturbances”.

“The situation warrants immediate action, as there exist sufficient grounds to proceed under section 144 CrPC in order to maintain law and order and to prevent any untoward incident,” Naqvi noted.

He further said that the relevant station house officers (SHO) in the area were also authorised to register complaints under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against those violating the ban.

The commissioner recalled that Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Akhtar Odho had also requested the imposition of Section 144 in his letter dated April 11.

The ban comes in the wake of attacks on at least three restaurants in Karachi between April 7 and April 9, with another one being foiled on April 10. The police said they had booked and arrested 10 activists of the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) for one of the incidents.

Other parts of Sindh also witnessed such attacks as miscreants set a restaurant on fire in Mirpurkhas on Tuesday night and pelted stones at a KFC outlet in Larkana the next day.

In Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA), scores of people pelted stones at an outlet of a fast-food chain on Wednesday, shattering windowpanes and damaging some of its portions.

Religio-political parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), have advocated for peaceful demonstrations and boycotts of certain international brands to protest the Israeli onslaught, which has killed over 50,000 Palestinians since Oct 7, 2023.

Yesterday, large rallies were staged across the country in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and to condemn Israel’s devastating military campaign in the enclave.