KARACHI, Jan 28: Operators of minibuses and coaches observed a token strike on Wednesday in protest against impounding of their vehicles by the traffic police.

The traffic police succumbed to the pressure of transporters and suspended its drive to enforce route permit rules and regulations, a senior police official said.

In its two-day drive, the traffic police impounded 354 commercial vehicles, mostly minibuses and coaches, from different parts of the city, officials said. The campaign focussed on Empress Market and its adjoining areas.

DIG traffic police Yameen Khan said: "We have suspended the drive for the time being and may resume it after Eidul Azha as we do not want people to suffer during the days of religious festival."

A major transport group - Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) - asked its allied bodies to observe a token strike but said the buses would keep plying on roads. The decision was taken at a KTI meeting a day before the strike to pressure the traffic police and the government.

KTI chief Irshad Bokhari said: "We do not want people to face hardship. The allied bodies, representing minibuses and coaches, had demanded that KTI announce a wheel-jam strike but it observed that it will add to the miseries of people."

But in areas where buses were not run, people did face hardship in getting to their workplaces. The overall impact of the strike, though, was not felt in most parts of the metropolis.

The traffic police were forced to launch a drive against commercial vehicles, plying on roads without route permit, after the Sindh governor took notice of it.

The police impounded 155 vehicles on Monday and 199 on Tuesday for violating the rule. They were not only fined but cases were registered against them. "We have put their registration numbers into our computerized data bank and if these vehicles are caught again, an enhanced fine will be levied on them", a senior official said.

The transport operators protested over the seizure of their vehicles. "We want the traffic police to fine our vehicles but not impound them. It is against the law", a transport representative claimed.

The DIG traffic said: "The transport operators do no want their vehicles to go off-road as it amounts to a business loss." Once the vehicles of rule violators are impounded, their drivers need to go to a court to get a release order, where they spend a full day and can't operate their vehicles for a day or two as a result, the officials said.

Mr Bokhari said: "Our drivers went to court where a confusion prevailed. Since a ticket system had been enforced and district magistracy system ceased to exist, there is a confusion in courts as to whether the judicial magistrates have powers to dispose of such cases."

He said there might be some minibuses and coaches plying without route permit but there were no buses without valid route permit. He demanded of the traffic police to release the minibuses and coaches impounded for violating the law.

According to a conservative estimate, some 5,000 minibuses and coaches ply on different roads without route permit and cause a mess in the traffic flow. A number of public transport vehicles registered outside Karachi ply on the city roads. They do not pay tax for the use of city roads. Instead, they cause atmospheric pollution, eroding roads and violating traffic laws.