LAHORE: Mother of Zeeshan Javed who died in Saturday’s Sahiwal firing rejected official claim that her son had links with activists of a banned outfit.

“Even if he was guilty, he could have been arrested. If people like Uzair Baloch and Rao Anwar can be arrested, why Zeeshan could not be arrested?” she asked while talking to a TV channel on Tuesday.

She said PTI leader Andleeb Abbas knew her family and Zeeshan very well. Another TV channel later quoted Andleeb as saying that she could not believe Zeeshan was a terrorist.

Meanwhile, scores of people, including relatives of Zeeshan, again took to the street in protest on Tuesday.

They blocked the Ferozepur Road from both sides at the Chungi Amar Sidhu and raised slogans against the CTD and the Punjab government.

The protesters demanded resignation of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar and Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying Zeeshan was murdered in a fake encounter.

They also staged a sit-in on the road, throwing traffic out of gear for a couple of hours, the eyewitnesses said.

The police intensified deployment in the area to avoid any mishap while the senior officers also reached there to hold negotiations with the protesters.

The demonstrators, however, dispersed peacefully after the senior police officers apprised them of action taken by the government against the CTD officers.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2019