KARACHI, Feb 6: A majority of the city's businesses remained closed on Friday due to a strike call given by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to protest against the government's attitude towards some nuclear scientists.
The public transport vehicles remained off the roads but many private transporters kept their buses and vans on them.
Incidents of violence were reported from some places in which five people were injured and a car was set ablaze. Dozens of vehicles were partially damaged after these were pelted with stones by some miscreants.
The police picked up 50 people from various parts of the city over their alleged involvement in burning tyres, stoning, blocking roads and violence.
A visit to the different areas of the city revealed that main markets and commercial hubs remained closed. Most of the people had responded positively to the MMA's call.
Businesses in and around Saddar and Empress Market remained closed. The streets of Bohri Bazaar, usually flooded with people, also wore a deserted look. Similarly, the markets in Boulten Market, Jodia Bazar, Khori Garden, Kharadar, and Mithadar were also shut.
Markets in the other areas like Tariq Road, Liaquatabad, were closed too. Some shops in the various localities were open but the overall impact of the strike could easily be felt.
Bodies representing the transporters had said they would remain neutral during the strike and let the individual transport operators decide whether to join it or not. The public transport vehicles remained off the roads in the morning and people faced hardship in making it to their places of employment. Newly introduced large buses, including the Green Buses, also were missing from the roads.
Office and business activities were to be resumed on Friday after a lapse of five days. The people who sought public conveyance for getting to their workplaces found it difficult to get onto the vehicles available as they were overcrowded.
Many people were forced to go back home and the attendance in the public and private organizations remained thin. Private transport vehicles were seen plying or the roads but the total number of such vehicles was low.
"Overall the law and order situation remained under control. However, we have picked up 50 people for their involvement in violence. Cases will be registered against them," the DIG police Operations, Tariq Jamil, told Dawn.
Reports of disturbances were received from some MMA-dominated areas. In Metroville I, near Banaras Chowk, four people were injured in an incident. Police and the eyewitnesses said some people had gathered at Banaras Chowk and marched towards Metroville I to force some shopkeepers to shut down their businesses.
The mob pelted the passing vehicles and shops with stones. Some of them also started firing in the air. The police and paramilitary forces took their positions and tried to disperse the mob, which then threw stones at the law-enforcers.
The police tossed teargas shells and resorted to a baton charge. The situation was brought under control in half-an-hour. After a while groups of youths appeared from different streets in the locality and marched towards Orangi Town where youths of another party were ready to resist them.
A hide-and-seek continued for hours between the mobs and the law-enforcers. The police eventually controlled the situation and later opened the road for traffic.
A 10-year-old girl Ayesha was injured when a school van she was travelling in was pelted with stones near old Sabzi Mandi on main University Road. Dozens of other vehicles were also reported partially damaged. Police reached the spot and picked up some people for breach of peace.
Some people lit bonfire on Super Highway near Sohrab Goth and closed the thoroughfare for vehicular traffic. The police and rangers later cleared the road and dispersed the people. Reports of violence were also received from Shah Faisal Colony, Jamshed Quarters, Malir, Gadap, and Shireen Jinnah Colony.