Anti-encroachment drive protester killed
A farmhouse being razed on the first day of a three-day anti-encroachment drive in Malir. The move sparked a protest, fol-lowing which the operation was suspended for the day. PHOTO: EXPRESS
A man named Taj Muhammad died of bullet injury sustained during an operation against encroachment in Gulshan-e-Maymar Abbas Goth.
Family members and residents staged a sit-in on the Northern Bypass, suspending traffic. During the protest, both tracks of the Northern Bypass were closed, disrupting the traffic flow and causing long queues and the worst traffic jams.
Meanwhile, enraged people burnt tyres and demanded to arrest the perpetrators.
The victim's heirs claim that Malir Development Authority was carrying out an anti-encroachment drive in their area, when the local staged protest, police opened fire.
Read More: Govt pauses anti-encroachment drive
As a result, Taj Muhammad was seriously injured and died. The protesters said that the sit-in would continue until the police officers responsible for the firing were arrested.
The police reached the spot on the protest and started negotiating to end the sit-in with the protesters. However, protesters refused to end their sit-ins and chanted slogans to support their demands.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2022.