TLP workers clash with police over leaders' arrest

KARACHI:

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) staged a protest at the Regal Chowk against the arrest of its leaders from outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday. Police tried to disperse the protestors with teargas and baton charge on which TLP workers pelted stones at police.

TLP had announced a special prayer for its worker, Amir Aziz, who was killed in firing on October 13. However, the situation took a turn when TLP's Karachi's Amir Mufti Qasim Fakhri and other leaders were taken into custody by police near the Karachi Press Club. This led to a massive protest by TLP workers at Regal Chowk, causing severe traffic jams in the surrounding areas.

The protesters set tyres on fire, blocking roads and chanting slogans. The police resorted to baton-charging and shelling to disperse the protesters, resulting in clashes that lasted for over an hour. Eventually, the protesters dispersed, but not before the surrounding markets were closed, and panic spread throughout the city. The traffic system in the entire Saddar area came to a grinding halt.

Police officials stated that no one was allowed to protest under Section 144. During the protest, a lady police officer was injured when she fell off a police mobile and was run over by another police vehicle.