A complete shutter down strike was observed in Quetta on Sunday against growing incidents of kidnapping for ransom and lawlessness in the provincial capital.
The strike was called Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) against growing incidents of kidnapping for ransom after abduction of JUI-F Quetta District Secretary Haji Sadiq Nurzai. Unidentified armed men kidnapped Sadiq Nurzai from link Sariab Road in Quetta four days ago and released him on late Saturday night. All business centers, establishment, markets and shops in the main city areas remained closed throughout the day.
JUI-F activists kept roaming the city and forced shopkeepers to shut their shops. JUI-F activists were reported to have manhandled two shopkeepers when they refused to close their shops. Due to the strike and a general weekly off, vehicle traffic remained thin.
Police backed by Balochistan Constabulary and Frontier Corps were deployed in different parts in the city to avoid any untoward incident. Police and FC kept patrolling the city.
Hundreds of JUI-F workers took out a protest rally from Science College and walked to Meezan chowk where a demonstration was held. Protestors carried placards against the administrations failure to ensure security to people. They accused police and law enforcement agencies of backing criminals.
3 killed in firing incidents: Three persons were killed in separate firing incidents in Quetta and Panjgour town, some 800 km south west of the provincial capital on Sunday. Shoukat was murdered in Hazara town in Quetta after exchanging abuses over a petty issue. The accused managed to flee the scene. Abdul Malik, rickshaw driver, was traveling from his home to a bazaar when he was stopped and passing near cattle market in the outskirts when unknown armed persons stopped him and opened fire from point blank range. The motive behind the killing could not be ascertained. In another incident, Arman Zamrani was stop dead by unidentified armed men riding a motorcycle in Shaptan area of Panjgour district.
