QUETTA, March 23: All kinds of vehicular traffic remained suspend between Quetta and Karachi for more than 12 hours as landlords and growers staged a sit-in on National Highway to press for their demands.

According to reports over 500 protesting landlords and growers of Kalat, Manguchar, Surab and other areas of Kalat division gathered in Suro area of Kalat district at around 6am and blocked the ECO National Highway linking Quetta with Karachi and other areas of the central and southern Balochistan by putting barricades.

During the sit-in dozens of armed men took position on the nearby mountains to resist any attempt by the government to disperse the protesters.

Over 2,000 vehicles, including passenger buses, trucks, coaches and minibuses were unable to proceed to their destinations.

The protesters were demanding more subsidy on onion crop, reviewing of markup on agriculture loans as promised by the prime minister.