The carriers in the early hours of Thursday ended their hour-long protest on the main Superhighway (now called the M-9 Highway) near Kathore for the murder of their three colleagues during a confrontation with tax collectors and the Organization of Border Works (FWO) guards one day before.
On Wednesday afternoon, three people were shot dead and two others injured during a protest by carriers on Link Road, near Superhighway, when they clashed with FWO personnel who allegedly resorted to the shooting. The drivers demonstrated against the FWO's decision to implement a recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the "axle load regime" when the violence occurred.
The blockade was over and traffic resumed on the busy road after successful talks between protesters and a government team led by Sindh Minister of Labor and Human Resources, Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, and composed of MNA Agha Rafiullah, DIG East Amir Farooqi and others, according to officials. .
DIG Farooqi said Dawn that "members of the transport association, elected representatives of the area and senior FWO officials played a positive role in ending the road blockade."
"FWO assured that a thorough investigation of the entire incident will be carried out and that those responsible will be treated according to the law," the senior officer added.
A first information report (FIR) was recorded according to a request from the affected drivers, said the DIG, promising that the "investigation will be conducted on merit."
"The FWO will bear the cost of medical treatment for the injured and contribute to the welfare of the families of the deceased," said the chief of police in the Eastern Zone of Karachi.
Provincial Minister Baloch told the media that the carriers had finished their protest after successful talks, and that an FIR would be registered against the personnel responsible for the murders and brought to justice.
Baloch said he had discussions with representatives of the transporters union under the instructions of Sindh Prime Minister Murad Ali Shah, who had taken note of the murders.
A Highway Police spokesman said traffic resumed at the Superhighway around 2: 30-3: 00 am Thursday after the protest that lasted more than seven hours ended.
FIR registered
According to Memon Goth police, the FIR of the incident was recorded in the complaint of a carrier, Bashir Ayub, against the toll tax collection staff and FWO guards under Sections 302 (murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Criminal Code of Pakistan.
According to the contents of the FIR obtained by Dawn, the plaintiff said he had gone to Ranipur, Khairpur for a personal job where he received a phone call about the crash that occurred on Toll Plaza Link Road.
Ayub said that after receiving this information, he returned to the city and when he reached Link Road, he saw that the carriers and truckers had blocked the M-9 in protest.
The plaintiff claimed that the crash had occurred because drivers had been subject to an "undesirable attitude" during the last week and several vehicles were stopped during the last three or four days, according to the FIR.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1511384/transporters-end-sit-in-on-m-9-after-registration-of-fir-over-killing-of-3-protesters