PESHAWAR, Sept 30: The local traders kept their business outlets closed on Monday to mourn the deaths of Qissa Khwani blast victims and set one week deadline for the government to compensate the families of the deceased and the affected shopkeepers.

Various markets including Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Khyber Bazaar, Mohammad Ali Jauhar Road, Cinema Road, Chitrali Bazaar and Electronic Market were kept closed by the traders to show solidarity with the affected families.

Most of the traders were criticising police for their failure to stem the tide of terrorism. They said that they would not cooperate with the police if action was not taken against ‘black sheep’ in the force.

Talking to journalists at the blast site at Qissa Khwani Bazaar, the traders said that one of the reasons for the frequent bomb blasts was negligence on part of local police, who were least bothered to fulfil their responsibility.

“Most of the police personnel spend their time only to collect money from people. They are least bothered to check the vehicles parked along the roads. Had police checked movement of vehicles the tragic incident would have not happened,” a leader of traders said.

Zafar Khattak, the president of Printing and Publishers Association, and Shaukat Khan, a leader of Cinema Road traders, also criticised police. They said that only 70 policemen were deployed for such a vast area.

“About 30 years ago there were 90 policemen at Khan Raziq police station but now when the population and trade activities are on the rise there are only 70 policemen at the police station,” Mr Khattak said.

Haji Haleem Jan, president of Anjuman-i-Tajiran, Malik Mehr Ilahi and other leaders also said that most of the problems pertaining to law and order were created owing to irresponsible role of some police officials.

They said that situation could not be improved unless government imposed a ban on movement of vehicles with tinted glasses and armed men travelling in them. They said that police avoided checking the vehicles and always took action against poor people.

However, Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani, during his visit to Qissa Khwani, assured the business community that police would take all possible steps for protection of people.

“We have devised a plan to get support of people in collection of information. The names of all those, who give any clue, will be kept secret,” he said and added that teams of police would check suspected areas with the help of sniffer dogs and bomb disposal unit personnel.

The IGP urged people to extend support to law enforcement agencies otherwise terrorists would take advantage of their weaknesses. He said that it was a war of nerves and strategy.

Police and public, Mr Durrani said, would also have to change their strategy as terrorists had their strategy to kill people as soft target. He added that police would give weight to suggestions of traders and other stakeholders to improve the deteriorating law and order situation.

About the movement of vehicles in the bazaars, the IGP said that parking facility would be considered to minimise the crowd in bazaars.

Meanwhile, police have asked traders to install close circuit television cameras and keep close liaison with local police in case of any problem. Several meetings of police, traders and transporters were held in the city to devise joint plan for improvement of the situation.

The shopkeepers were also asked to keep an eye on movement of pushcarts, suspected vehicles, bicycles, abandoned bags and strangers. They were also asked to hire services of private security guards. The meetings were held at different police stations where the participants also raised some complaints against police.