All 29 people killed on Tuesday were buried amidst protests, shutter-down strike and tight security in Quetta on Wednesday. Police arrested 85 suspects in relation with the attack on a bus carrying shia pilgrims in Mastung. Twenty-five bodies were buried in the Hazara graveyard close to the western bypass and one in Marriabad in the eastern suburb. Two of the bodies were dispatched to Loralai and one to Karachi for burial.
The biggest funeral was held in Hazara graveyard where hundreds of members of the Shia community came to offer prayers. Meanwhile, thousands of women and children belonging to the Shia community staged a protest rally during the funeral ceremony in Hazara by putting barricades and burning tyres on the main road. The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with slogans against the government, the civil administration and the Frontier Corps Balochistan. When contacted, DIG Operation Hamid Shakeel told Pakistan Today that no untoward incident had taken place during the funeral and the protest demonstrations. A partial strike was observed in the provincial capital and a complete one in Hazara dominated areas. However, a very poor response was seen to the strike call.
Meanwhile, police, in various raids, arrested 85 suspects from the western side of the city where most of the armed attacks take place against the Shia community. DIG (investigation) Nazir Ahmad Kurd said the 85 suspects were being interrogated and would be set free if not required by police.
