SUKKUR, April 3 Partial shutter-down strike was observed here on Saturday in protest against a robbery incident of last week in which a jeweller was deprived of gold worth Rs25 million.

The strike call, given by the Sarafa Association and Sukkur Small Traders Association, received mixed response as some of the bazaars remained closed but business activities continued in some markets.

The strike call has led to a division between traders of the city as their one group was seen forcing the shopkeepers to close their business and another was appealing to them to keep their shops open.

Sarwar Latif of the traders association criticised the Sarafa Association and alleged that its members were involved in illegal business of gold and carried gold worth millions of rupees without taking security measures.

He said that one or two incidents of robbery were reported by the Sarafa Association every month but the goldsmiths did not cooperate with the police in solving the robbery cases. He claimed that people associated with gold trade were found involved in such cases and “drama” of gold robberies was staged by traders to declare themselves bankrupt.

Sarwar Latif said that people were already irked by price hike and unemployment and strikes added to miseries of the shopkeepers and daily wage earners while the administration was not moved by strikes. He criticised the Sukkur police for failing to arrest the culprits of the gold robbery.

Meanwhile, goldsmiths observed strike in different cities of Sindh — including Hyderabad, Naushahro Feroze, Moro, Khairpur and Nawabshah — to protest against Sukkur's robbery incident.

Jewellers staged a protest demonstration outside the press club in Moro, demanding arrest of the robbers and recovery of the looted gold.