Taxi driver’s murder: Traders in Mansehra observe strike

A dispute over payment of pan at a shop, a taxi driver who was passing through at the time, was shot dead as a result

MANSEHRA:

Traders in Mansehra observed a complete shutter down strike on Saturday, bringing business activity across the city to a standstill. The strike was held against the murder of a person, who was killed in broad daylight.

According to the police, a man was killed when two groups clashed and attacked each other with bricks and batons, following a dispute over payment of pan at Noori Pan Shop, located at Zafar Road. During the incident, one of the groups allegedly opened fire. Muhammad Ashfaq, a taxi driver who was passing through at the time, was shot dead as a result. Five others, including owners of the shop Omar Faraz and Bashir Faraz, were injured in the firing. Police identified the other three as Sher Afzal, Azizur Rehman and Muhammad Faraz.

Anjuman-e-Tajiran, or the traders union, of Mansehra gave a call for a strike on Saturday to protest against the incident. Traders of Abbottabad Road, Shinkiari Road, Garhi Road and Main bazaar shut down their business for the whole day. They took the body to Karakoram Chowk, disrupting the flow of traffic on Karakoram Highway for over two hours. They demanded the police to arrest the culprits, and warned to hold another strike on the following day if all the perpetrators of the crime were not arrested within the next 24 hours.

Police say they have arrested one of the five suspects, namely Zeeshan. They also said they were conducing raids in different parts of the district to arrest the remaining offenders.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2011.