Gas loadshedding: 74 arrested for pelting trains with stones

Seven people including three policemen injured in clashes.

FAISALABAD:

The police on Wednesday arrested 74 people who stopped two passenger trains near Nishatabad railway station and damaged bogies and engines.

The police fired tear gas and charged with batons to disperse the violent mob. Seven people including three police officials were injured in the clash.

Police said that protesters were arrested for creating obstacles in official work, damaging public property, rioting, injuring policemen, taking the law in their hands and creating a law and order situation in the city.

Some 200 Sant Singh Wala and Mansoorabad residents protested against low pressure and interrupted gas supply for domestic use. They were carrying household utensils and threw stones at the train.  Many wielded clubs and iron rods. They stopped a passenger train (Pakistan Express) that was coming from Lahore. Later, they stopped another train heading to Lahore. They pelted stones on the trains and damage the bogies and the engines. The area police arrived at the scene and tried to pacify the mob, but some of the protesters attacked at police. The police baton charged the crowd which included men, women and children.

Seeing this, some protesters made announcements at the area mosque to inform the residents about the “police brutality”. They asked the residents to come out of their houses to “teach police a lesson”.

A large number of people joined the protesters. The police then used tear gas. Seven people including three police officials were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital, where they remained out of danger. The mob was dispersed after five hours.

Some protesters, who talked to The Express Tribune earlier, said cooking food had become a ‘torment’ for them due to low gas pressure and interrupted supplies. The protesters chanted slogans against the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the government and the police. The protestors said that the gas supply had become worse in the past two week, despite various assurances from SNGPL officials.

One of the protesters, Saima, told The Tribune that her family had been getting food from restaurants for more than a week now. “We can’t afford it. The government shows no concern about what the poor are going through,” she said.

Nadia Siraj, another protester, said the gas interruptions were affecting her morning routine. “I have to wake up two hours before they do to cook breakfast for them. Even then it does not work,” she said. She said her husband was a peon at an office and could not afford to eat out daily.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2012.