Following the Supreme Court (SC) verdict to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) workers and supporters took to streets in Karachi and other districts of the province to lodge their protest against the court’s decision. PPP workers took to streets in many areas of the metropolis, resorting to aerial firing; setting tyres ablaze and forcibly closing business centers. Initially, the protesters blocked the Shahra-e-Faisal and later the protest engulfed several other areas where incidents of aerial firing and forced closure of markets were reported. These areas include PPP’s stronghold Lyari, Kala Pull, Korangi Industrial Area, Sachal Goth, Quaidabad, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Pipri, Kemari, Shershah, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Shanti Nagar, Stadium Road, Jauhar Morr, Safora Chowrangi and Mosmiyat, where protesters set tyres on fire and blocked roads, causing massive traffic jams in all parts of the city. The incidents of aerial firing and forced markets closure were also reported in various districts including Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Shahdadkot, Tharparkar, Mithi, Sanghar, Badin, Thatta, Nawabshah, Nausherho Feroz, Dadu, Jamshoro and Jacobabad where party supporters took to streets. In Larkana and Sukkur, masked PPP workers, carrying banners and placards of President Asif Zardari, openly resorted to aerial firing, compelling the public to remain indoors.
