QUETTA, Feb 6: A partial shutter-down strike was observed in the city on Friday on the call of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.

Five activists of the MMA, including the alliance's Quetta district general secretary Maulana Rahmatullah, were arrested on charges of forcibly closing down shops and businesses.

Main business centres and markets remained closed in the main city area as most shopkeepers observe Friday as weekly holiday. A majority of shops remained closed at the Jinnah Road while shopkeepers in other city areas continued their business throughout the day without any interruption.

Many shops were seen to be open at Liaquat Road, Prince Road, Abdul Sattar Road and Kandahari Bazar. The traffic remained unaffected in the provincial metropolis during the strike.

The local administration had taken strict security measures in Quetta city, deploying extra police and Frontier Corps contingents to avert the occurrence of any untoward incident.

The police took action after they found a group of MMA activists, who were forcibly trying to close down shops in the main city area, and arrested five of the MMA's local leaders.

JUI leaders, including provincial minister Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Shorady and MNA Maulana Noor Mohammad from Quetta condemned the arrest of MMA activists and demanded their immediate release.

They went to the City Police Station and expressed their solidarity with the arrested activists, threatening to stage a sit-in at the police station if they were not released.

Police officials later said that all five arrested MMA leaders and workers were released later in the evening. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the provincial capital.

Contingents of police and other law enforcement agencies continued patrolling in the city. Reports coming from Chaman, Pishin, Mastung, Kalat and other areas of the province suggested mixed response over the shutter-down strike call to protest against the treatment of the nuclear scientists.