FAISALABAD, Jan 8: Villagers of Chaks 66, 67, 68 GB and Awagat blocked the Faisalabad-Jaranwala Road for two hours and pelted stones on policemen and moving vehicles in protest against the murder of a rickshaw driver by highwaymen on Wednesday.
Hundreds of villagers including women, carrying coffin of Rustam Ali, blocked the traffic and chanted slogans against the police for its failure to provide security to citizens.
The women beating their chests demanded immediate arrest of killers who shot dead the rickshaw driver during a robbery attempt. Some protesters were also carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the police highups.
The protesters pelted stones on a police party who rushed to the spot to pacify the situation. Eyewitnesses claimed that three constables sustained minor injuries. Later, villagers dispersed peacefully when a senior police officer along with a heavy police contingent rushed to the spot and assured the protesters that killers would be arrested within 48 hours.
Unidentified robbers stopped the rickshaw driver near Awagat and shot him dead for putting up resistance during the robbery attempt. The killers fled by taking the advantage of darkness when the area people gathered there. Villagers claimed that they had informed the police immediately, but police reached there after about one hour, providing killers enough chance to escape.
ACCOUNTS RECORD: The Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association has demanded the federal government to immediately withdraw the decision to keep accounts record for small shopkeepers.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, PYMA officials said small traders were depositing income tax under self-assessment scheme. But the government has directed them to keep a complete record of their sale and purchase and statements of bank accounts and file them along with income tax returns.
They claimed that bureaucracy was creating hurdles by making wrong taxation policies which tarnished the government image.
They claimed that the business community had already been facing serious problems due to slump in the international market after 9/11 incident. The new condition would burden them further financially, they added.
They urged the prime minister to invite small traders and formulate taxation policies according to their suggestions.