KARACHI, March 5: Police on Saturday swiftly disbanded a protest demonstration by Pakistan Muslim League supporters of sacked Sindh revenue minister Imtiaz Sheikh in front of Karachi Press Club and hauled away scores of them in their vans.

The activists of PML Sindh had taken out a procession from Defence Housing Society's phase II to protest the dismissal of Imtiaz Sheikh. As they tried to proceed to the Chief Minister House, police blocked their path.

The protestors crossed this and other barriers to reach the KPC. As soon as they streamed into the road in front of the club, the waiting police force swung into action, using batons to disperse them.

Police also picked up scores of demonstrators and dumped them into their mobiles and armoured vehicles before taking them to different police stations for being lodged in lock-ups.

The protestors shouted pro-Musharraf and pro-Imtiaz slogans and demanded that Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim be shown the door. In a statement, Mr Sheikh condemned the police action and appealed to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to take notice of Sindh CM's actions against party workers.

He pointed out that rallies were staged outside the KPC by different political parties on a daily basis but when the PML workers came out to record their protest against "victimization by the Sindh government, they were treated brutally".

He said: "After failing to produce any proof against me, the chief minister has started to victimize my supporters." He cautioned Arbab Rahim to unleash repression only to the extent he could face its consequences. The ex-minister also warned the provincial administration against becoming a party in the tussle.

According to a party press release, the rally was led by PML leaders Agha Zafarullah Shaheen, Mir Muhammad Khokhar, Fazlullah, Jamal Khan, Jehanzeb, Allama Saeed Raza, Farooq-ul-Hasnat, and Salim Ashrafi.