VEHARI, April 15: Traders observed a complete strike in protest against an alarming rise in dacoity incidents during the last few days in Vehari.

All shops and markets in Vehari and its adjoining areas remained shut throughout the day.

Traders took out a protest rally against the police for their failure to arrest the culprits involved in dacoities. The protesters took a round of main city roads and raised slogans against the police.

Later, protesters reached outside the TMA offices where leaders of various trade organizations, including Chaudhry Serwer, Rao Khalil, Rao Iftikhar, Arshad Bhatti, Engineer Rafiq, Zahid Iqbal, and Tehsil Nazim Mian Saqib Khursheed, also addressed the gathering.

They said that dacoits on Saturday evening looted various shops within a span of 30 minutes on Club Road, F-Block and C-Block, but the police, particularly Rescue 15 remained indifferent to public complaints.

Speakers said the police failed to arrest a single dacoit in Vehari. They threatened to continue their strike against the police if the culprits involved in dacoities were not arrested within a week.

Meanwhile, DPO Malik Tassaduq Hayat suspended Danywal police SHO Nadeem Afzal for negligence of duty.

Textile unit burnt: A unit of the Burewala Textile Mills was reduced to ashes here on Sunday.

Reports said a unit and store of the mills caught fire due to a short-circuit. As a result the entire material and machinery were reduced to ashes.

According to some eyewitnesses, the fire could not be controlled due to non-availability of firefighting arrangement in the mills. Later, fire brigades from Burewala, Vehari, and Pakpattan reached the spot and extinguished the fire after two-hour efforts.

The mills manager said the exact loss would be known after calculation. — Correspondent