Killed on the job: Sanitary worker’s death by bus sparks protest
Hundreds block the IJP Road, disrupting traffic for about an hour.
RAWALPINDI:
Hundreds of protesters blocked the IJ Principal (IJP) Road in Pirwadhai for over 45 minutes on Wednesday after a bus crushed a sanitary worker.
Witnesses said the bus crushed Muhammad Yousaf, employed on daily wage at the bus stand, as it was turning a bend. Yousaf was cleaning the parking lot at the time. The driver abandoned the bus and escaped from the scene. Police moved the body to District Headquarter Hospital.
After they heard about the incident, Yousaf’s relatives and neighbours from Bangash Colony gathered outside the Pirwadhai Police Station to stage a protest. They chanted slogans against the police and appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take a suo motu notice of the incident.
The enraged protesters set fire to the bus, pelted public and private vehicles with stones and sticks and broke glasses of a number of vehicles.
They marched towards the IJP Road with bamboo sticks and iron rods and initially blocked both sides for traffic by torching tyres and other flammable items. A few minutes into their protest, they shifted to a single side of the road. They also placed Yousaf’s body on the road.
With one side of the busy highway blocked, the traffic slowed down to a trickle, with one side of the highway being used by cars going between the twin cities. The traffic on link roads was also affected.
About 45 minutes into the protest, a heavy contingent of police arrived and cleared the road for traffic. Police officers of the Pirwadhai circle negotiated with protesters and assured them that the police will register a case against the bus driver and arrest him as soon as possible, some of the protesters told The Express Tribune.
Despite several attempts, Pirwadhai Station House Officer Raja Rasheed was not available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2012.
Hundreds of protesters blocked the IJ Principal (IJP) Road in Pirwadhai for over 45 minutes on Wednesday after a bus crushed a sanitary worker.
Witnesses said the bus crushed Muhammad Yousaf, employed on daily wage at the bus stand, as it was turning a bend. Yousaf was cleaning the parking lot at the time. The driver abandoned the bus and escaped from the scene. Police moved the body to District Headquarter Hospital.
After they heard about the incident, Yousaf’s relatives and neighbours from Bangash Colony gathered outside the Pirwadhai Police Station to stage a protest. They chanted slogans against the police and appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take a suo motu notice of the incident.
The enraged protesters set fire to the bus, pelted public and private vehicles with stones and sticks and broke glasses of a number of vehicles.
They marched towards the IJP Road with bamboo sticks and iron rods and initially blocked both sides for traffic by torching tyres and other flammable items. A few minutes into their protest, they shifted to a single side of the road. They also placed Yousaf’s body on the road.
With one side of the busy highway blocked, the traffic slowed down to a trickle, with one side of the highway being used by cars going between the twin cities. The traffic on link roads was also affected.
About 45 minutes into the protest, a heavy contingent of police arrived and cleared the road for traffic. Police officers of the Pirwadhai circle negotiated with protesters and assured them that the police will register a case against the bus driver and arrest him as soon as possible, some of the protesters told The Express Tribune.
Despite several attempts, Pirwadhai Station House Officer Raja Rasheed was not available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2012.