KARACHI, Jan 13: Shops and markets in various areas of the city were closed to mourn the death of religious leader Agha Ziauddin Rizvi, who died on Thursday in a Rawalpindi hospital , where he had been admitted for treatment after he was wounded in an attempt on his life in Gilgit last Saturday.

As soon as the news of his death reached the city, people took to the streets and youths in groups asked the shopkeepers to shut down their businesses. Shops were shuttered in Malir, Jaafar-i-Tayyar Society, Abbas Town, Ancholi, Rizvia Society, Kharadar, Garden, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, and other areas.

The enraged people pelted vehicles with stones at the Purani Numaish and Guru Mandir intersections. They threw rocks at the shops also. Traffic was blocked by the disturbance on M.A. Jinnah Road in the afternoon.

The police arrived at the scene and urged the people not to take the law into their own hands. However, the protesters put up roadblocks, which led to traffic jams at various spots. The police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the protesters.

Besides, people staged a sit-in on Sharea Faisal in Malir, where traffic remained blocked for more than three hours. The police and paramilitary forces reached the spot, and the people dispersed after negotiations with the law enforcement agencies.

Later in the evening, a mourning procession under the auspices of the Imamia Students Organization was taken out from Shah-i-Khurasan near Purani Numaish which terminated at Imambargah Ali Raza on M.A. Jinnah Road. The participants of the procession later marched back and dispersed.

Speaking to the participants of the procession, the speakers demanded that the government arrest the killers of Agha Ziauddin and give them an exemplary punishment.

They said the role of Agha Ziauddin was like a bridge between different sects of the Ummah and he had been striving for the unity of the Muslims. His assassination was aimed at promoting US interests in the northern areas of the country, but the Millat-i-Islamia would never allow the US to achieve its ulterior motives, the speakers said.

BANK LOOTED: A bank robbery was committed on Thursday within the New Town police limits where robbers took away more than Rs1.6 million.