KARACHI: Transporters on Thursday ended their seven-hour-long protest on M-9 Motorway near Kathore over the killing of three of their colleagues in a clash with toll tax collectors and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) personnel during protests the other day.
On Wednesday, drivers demonstrating against the FWO’s decision to implement the Supreme Court’s judgement in regard to the ‘axle load regime’ clashed with FWO guards, who according to reports resorted to firing which led to the killing of three protesters.
The sit-in ended after the Sindh government intervened and held successful talks with representatives of the Transporters Association, who agreed to call off the protest. Talks were led by Sindh Minister for Labour and Human Resources Ghulam Murtaza Baloch and included MNA Agha Rafiullah, DIG East Amir Farooqi and others who promised that a probe would be launched into the incident and those responsible would be brought to justice.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged as per the demands of the affected drivers, while the DIG vowed that “investigations will be done on merit”.
“The FWO will bear the cost of medical treatment of those injured and will contribute towards the well being of the families of the deceased,” the police chief of Karachi’s East Zone said.
Sindh Minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch said that the reservations of the drivers regarding the ordinance had been taken into account and that CM Murad Shah had taken notice of the incident that occurred on Wednesday.
A Motorway police spokesman said that traffic resumed on the highway at around 2:30-3:00am after the protest sit-in lasted for seven hours.