HYDERABAD, July 19: The residents of Lalu Lashari Goth, Baldia Colony, Madina Town, Aliabad and adjoining areas staged a demonstration outside the local press club on Friday against the alleged misappropriation of Zakat funds by the chairman of the district Zakat committee, Gul Hassan Leghari, and a local chairman, Abdul Haq Arain.

The protesters, including a large number of women and children, raised slogans against Leghari and Arain and demanded their removal.

Speaking at the rally, the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party leader, Mehboob Abro, Sikandar Qureshi, and others said that not a single deserving person had received Zakat fund in the areas for the last seven years.

They demanded an impartial inquiry into the alleged misappropriation in the Zakat funds.

Transporters: A large number of truck and pickup drivers with their vehicles staged a demonstration outside the press club here on Friday to protest against the collection of forced parking tax by a Cantonment Board contractor, Nazeer.

Talking to newsmen the truck and pickup owners, Sher Mohammad Brohi, Mushtaq Qureshi and Saeed Rajput said that about 150 vehicles loaded goods daily at Ghariababad truck stand which was not in the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board.

They complained that the cantonment contractor, Nazeer, was collecting forced parking tax of Rs20 to Rs150 per vehicle for each trip.

They appealed to the military authorities to protect them against the highhandedness of the contractor.

Answering a question, they said that the contractor had begun the recovery of parking tax from July 1.