MULTAN, Feb 22: Receiving the news of strangulation of a Khangarh’s minor boy, hundreds of people swarmed the inter-provincial highway in Muzaffargarh on Saturday noon to protest what they called police’s apathy.

It was 11 in the morning when people learnt that 11-year-old Waqar was strangled at a deserted place, which is reportedly owned by the provincial auqaf department, near his house in Khangarh city’s ward No 10, on the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar Road, some 70 kilometres from here.

People informed the Khangarh police about the incident, and on their delayed arrival, placed burnt tyres on the highway to block traffic. They also chanted slogans against the police.

The Muzaffargarh Saddar DSP tried to defuse the tension, but the mob remained adamant.

Later, District Police Officer Tariq Masood Yasin reached there and dispersed the protesters, assuring them that the negligent would be brought to book.

He ordered postmortem of the body, which the protesters had kept on the KLP Road as a mark of protest. However, the police have yet to register a case. — Correspondent