DADU: A heavy contingent of police led by a DSP and two SHOs surrounded house of Sindh United Party chairman Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah in Jamshoro town early on Sunday morning but returned without arresting him after learning he had obtained bail.

The police parties led by Kotri DSP Ghulam Shabbir Sarki and SHOs of Kotri and Jamshoro pitched tents outside four corners of Shah’s house at 6.00am and briefly stopped him when he wanted to go out.

Shah informed police officials that he had obtained bail before arrest from Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court in all cases and asked the DSP if he had any arrest warrants for him he was ready to surrender, according to SUP sources.

The DSP had no arrest warrants but he kept Shah from leaving for two hours before conceding finally and returned without any arrest, said the sources.

Shah told journalists later that police wanted to arrest him without any arrest warrant. Police could not arrest him but they created harassment by surrounding his house and their action was part of a drive against nationalist parties’ activists after the SAC announced long term struggle. Police had registered a total of 28 FIRs against SAC leaders and activists and old residents of villages, he said.

SUP general secretary Roshan Ali Buriro said that SAC would continue their struggle according to the schedule already announced. Five SUP activists were arrested in Jamshoro and Kotri that day as police launched province-wide crackdown against SAC activists, he said.

SUP spokesman Makhdoom Shams said that a caravan of SAC activists led by Jalal Shah was ready to go to Thana Bula Khan when police parties surrounded his house. Apparently, police only wanted to create harassment, he said.

As soon as SUP activists received news of raid on their leader’s house, they arrived there in big numbers and held a protest against police. The party workers in Bhan Syedabad town also took to the streets in protest against Jamshoro police’s action.

Rally held against SAC leaders’ arrest

SUKKUR: Activists of nationalist parties took out a rally in Tangwani town on Sunday in protest against registration of ‘fake’ cases against Qaumi Awami Tehreek chief Ayaz Latif Palijo and other nationalist leaders, demolition of old villages by Bahria Town Karachi and occupation on their land.

The protesters’ leaders Rab Dino Malik, Sajjad Brohi, Sachal Malik and others said in their speeches before participants in the rally that under a conspiracy, BTK gate was set on fire with the help of a chemical and then ‘fake’ cases were registered against the leaders of Sindhi nationalist organisations including Palijo.

They said the BTK administration was occupying land by demolishing old villages in Karachi and demanded authorities stop BTK’s land-grab spree and immediately withdraw cases registered against workers and leaders of nationalist parties.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2021