KARACHI, Jan 17: Police on Monday arrested more than 600 people, mostly youngsters, for pillion-riding after the Sindh government slapped a ban on the facility following a spate of targeted killings that claimed some 30 lives in five days.

The law enforcers, in this case, appeared much smarter as minutes after the provincial home department announced the curb, they spotted some 311 motorbikes across the city carrying more than a single rider since the early hours of Monday, when the ban became effective.

“The exact number of the people booked is not clear, but it’s more than 600, as a total of 311 motorbikes were seized,” said a senior police official. “Most arrests were made in the south zone of the police organisational structure, where nearly 300 riders were arrested for the violation.” He said the suspects were booked in FIRs registered under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza finally declared a ban on pillion-riding from Monday after hours of confusion following contradictory statements issued by senior members of the government, both in the centre and province.

By sunset, police personnel of Saddar Town had arrested some 65 pillion-riders –– 39 were booked in Jamshed Town, 50 in Clifton Town and 41 in Keamari Town –– and seized a number of motorbikes.

The ban emerged as a surprise for people in different areas as they were returning home from work late in the night unaware of the imposition of the ban. They landed into police lockups and had to spend the night there instead of reaching home.

A majority of Karachi people saw the ban as an ineffective measure to stem violence, quoting the history of such measures. Two younger brothers of Hammad Hasan, a resident of North Nazimabad, were among the 50 people arrested by the Clifton Town police a few hours after the imposition of the ban while they were returning home on a motorbike after pulling down the shutters of their shop in the same area.

“Both my brothers and the family were unaware of the decision. They were booked and arrested by the police, who did not even allow them to use their cellphones to inform us about the incident,” he said in one of the several calls received by Dawn with people complaining against the police approach.

The authorities, however, defended the move saying the action against criminal elements demanded a ban on pillion riding. Similarly, they believed though the recent violence affected parts of the city, a ban could not be imposed on specific areas.

“The ban has been imposed only for a week and it would be reviewed after the period. The ban is part of a strategy to bring peace back and trace the criminal elements,” said Sharfuddin Memon, adviser to the Sindh home ministry. However, it provides an opportunity to the rights’ activists criticising the provincial administration for their mindset.

“We strongly believe that the ban on pillion-riding is a violation of basic human rights defined in the constitution, and history shows it hardly proves effective in such a situation,” said Intikhab Soori of the Human Rights Network, which once challenged the ban in the Sindh High Court on the same grounds. “An estimate suggests that at least three million Karachiites –– mostly from poor and low-income groups –– are inconvenienced daily by the restriction.”

Pillion-riders bailed out

A number of judicial magistrates on Monday ordered the release of around 30 men arrested on charges of pillion riding on bail and personal bonds.

The suspects were apprehended within the remit of the Nabi Bux, Preedy, Solider Bazaar, Clifton and Shah Latif Town police stations after a late-night decision of the government to impose a ban on pillion riding in the city.

The police produced the suspects before the magistrates concerned in the city courts and Malir district courts on Monday and the courts granted bail to most of them against a surety bond of Rs5,000 each while some of the suspects were released on personal bonds.

The suspects said that they were unaware of the late-night ban on pillion riding and were retuning home from work and some of them were coming back after attending marriage ceremonies on Sunday night when the police intercepted them and arrested for violating the ban.

A few suspects brought to the courts were arrested in the early hours of Monday.