PESHAWAR, May 19: Shopkeepers in Khyber Bazaar staged a protest demonstration and blocked the road for several hours against the arrest of 11 shopkeepers by the traffic police here on Wednesday.

The traffic police on Wednesday morning arrested 11 shopkeepers for displaying different items on footpaths. "The shopkeepers were arrested as they were creating hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic," said a police official.

But soon after their arrest, traders and shopkeepers blocked the main Khyber Bazaar road by setting old tyres on fire and staging a demonstration. The angry shopkeepers also attacked several private vehicles and damaged them, said a local trader of Khyber Bazaar.

The protesters dispersed after the assurance by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Shabbir Ahmad Khan and senior police officials that the arrested shopkeepers would be released. Later on, the police released all the shopkeepers on the assurance by the shopkeepers that they would not display items on the footpaths.