Clash between cops, citizens stalls traffic flow in Karachi

Vehicles ran out of fuel during two-hour-long bottleneck, over a dozen persons pickpocketed

KARACHI:

A clash between citizens and traffic police personnel led to a logjam at Qayyumabad Chowrangi on Thursday evening.

With traffic coming nearly to a standstill on affected arteries for around two hours, several vehicles stuck on choked roads ran out of fuel and over a dozen citizens complained of having been pickpocketed during this time.

The clash took place following an argument between a resident of Qayyumabad, Ameen, and traffic police personnel.

According to Ameen, the policemen had flagged him while he was on his way home from Sohrab Goth in his newly bought car. He said the cops told him that he would be challaned as the number plate on his vehicle was temporary. While he was explaining to the officials that his car was newly bought and a permanent number was to be issued by the excise and taxation department, three cops and some citizens witnessing the scene engaged in a clash.

Ameen claimed that traffic policemen beat him and tore his clothes, took his mobile phone and went inside a nearby police picket.

This enraged passersby, who surrounded the picket, blocked the road in protest and embroiled in a clash with the cops, he added.

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"The policemen then called for help and more officials arrived at the scene to rescue them," he said.

The Qayyumabad DSP, who reached the site along with others to "rescue" the cops, claimed on the other hand that the clash erupted after Ameen hurled abuses at traffic policemen and tried to flee in his car.

The flow of the traffic was restored after the protesters dispersed on the DSP's assurance that action would be taken against whoever was found at fault in the incident.

Meanwhile, the residents of Railway Colony and surrounding areas staged a protest over the non-supply of water and gas to their residences and blocked II Chundrigar Road near Shaheen Complex.

The protesters complained that the supply of water to their houses had been suspended for days and gas was being supplied for just an hour in a day.

They said they had lodged complaints on the matter with the relevant bodies multiple times, but to no avail.

As a result of the protest, II Chundrigar Road and multiple arteries in its vicinity witnessed traffic jams.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2021.