MARDAN, March 12: The president of Oil Tankers Association, Sindh, Sartaj Khan, has accused the police of depriving him of his vehicle and warned of a country-wide strike if his vehicle was not released before Saturday.

Mr Sartaj told a press conference that an ASI of the Mardan city police had snatched from him the keys of his Pajero (KA-2808) at the district courts.

Mr Sartaj said he had been told that some suspects were travelling in the vehicle and that the senior officials had ordered to impound the vehicle. He said that when he asked the policemen for the identity of any of the suspects, they refused to disclose any names.

Mr Sartaj warned that the oil-tanker owners and drivers would observe a wheel-jam strike if his vehicle was not released till Saturday.

APPEAL: Fazal Rahim, a poor resident of Bala Garhi, has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf for making arrangements for his medical treatment, saying he was unable to afford the charges. In an appeal to President Musharraf and NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussein, 20-year-old Rahim said that he was a poor man and was suffering from blood cancer.