A man holds up casings of bullets which were fired into the air as a bulldozer burns in the background near the site of an anti-encroach drive in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Tuesday.
According to Police sources, the Sindh Revenue Department's team were demolishing illegal structures on government-owned land in Chaman Iqbal Colony, in block-6 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar when people started protesting, and threw stones at the team.
Police officials said that Wahid Sanjrani, a notorious land grabber, had illegally occupied government land by building makeshift shelters and sub-letting them.
As officials tore these illegal structures down, people protested and resisted the officials. SHO Hidayatullah Abbasi of Mobina Town Police station and Assistant Sub Inspector Saleem of Gulistan-e-Jauhar police got injured in the ensuing scuffle.
It was reported that some unidentified men fired bullets in to the air during the scuffle, prompting the police to use tear gas and baton charge the mob.
Despite this, the mob managed to set ablaze a bulldozer which had gotten stuck in a hole.
A police officer, seeking anonymity, told The Express Tribune they were assisting the revenue department team who requested the police for help in controlling the law and order situation.
The police later claimed to have arrested three men including Noor Mohammad, Elahi Bukhsh and Gul Mohammad in an injured condition. Noor Muhammad was taken to the hospital for medical care.
Officials said they had also registered an FIR against the arrested men at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar Police station.
Following Tuesday's incidents, the anti-encroachment drive was suspended.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ