Protest erupts after woman killed in crossfire

Protesters block GT Road, commuters remain trapped in snarl-up for several hours

RAWALPINDI:

Scores of protesters including women and children blocked GT Road near Rawat for over two hours on Thursday after a woman was killed in a crossfire between a police party and alleged drug peddlers in the Chak Belly area.

After the police raided the den of the two alleged drug peddlers, a crossfire ensued and a bullet hit the woman, Sameera Rashid, injuring her seriously. She was taken to the hospital where she succumbed during treatment.

After the death of the woman, scores of people including family members of the victim staged a protest rally on GT Road by placing the body in the middle of the road.

The protesters blocked the road on both sides by burning tyres, and as a result, forming long queues of vehicles commuting between Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Commuters and passengers remained trapped in the snarl-up for several hours. The passengers stuck in the traffic jam complained of severe suffocation as women and children remained stuck inside vehicles without getting water and were unable to use public toilets and washrooms.

Long queues of vehicles especially buses and other passenger vehicles as well as ambulances were seen as they remained stuck for several hours as traffic wardens and police failed to restore traffic.

“Traffic remained blocked for over two hours due to the protest,” said Aslam Tahir, a traveller, who was coming from Lahore to Rawat. He said police failed to disperse the protesters and open the road for vehicular traffic.

Another protestor said that the heirs of the victim demanded that the top command of the Rawalpindi police reach the venue for negotiations or else they would continue to block the road and traffic. He said that the police high-ups and the district administration showed utter disregard for the problems of commuters and passengers by failing to convince the protesters to unblock the main artery used by hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily.

SP Sadr Mohammad Nabil held successful talks with the protesters before they dispersed peacefully.

Earlier police said that they raided to arrest drug dealers Daniyal and Amirzada in the Chak Belly area when the crossfire took place and the woman sustained a bullet fired allegedly by the suspected drug peddlers.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2023.