By Riaz Narijo
DADU: Hundreds of residents from the Qabail community staged a second day of protest on Tuesday by blocking the M-9 motorway near Noriabad, bringing traffic to a complete standstill for more than an hour over allegations of false cases and a fabricated police encounter.
Local people from Jamshoro’s Noriabad area blocked both carriageways of the motorway, suspending traffic for one hour and 20 minutes and leaving long queues of vehicles stranded on both sides.
Protesters said a young man, Ghamshad Palari, had been arrested a day earlier on robbery charges. Villagers responded by staging a peaceful protest on the motorway on Monday, demanding his release. They alleged that after the protest ended, police registered a fake encounter case against the arrested youth and other participants.
Relatives claimed that the Noriabad police had named eight people in the alleged encounter case, all of whom they said were peaceful protesters. Describing the action as a grave injustice, demonstrators accused the police of excesses, false encounters and fabricated cases, and returned to the motorway to register their protest.
The protesters demanded that no negotiations be held with the station house officer (SHO) of Noriabad, and called on senior police officials to take immediate notice of the incident and intervene.
The sit-in was eventually called off voluntarily after about one hour and 20 minutes. However, the protest caused severe disruption, with hundreds of vehicles stranded on the motorway. Many travellers attempting to use alternative routes were left stuck on dirt tracks beneath the road.
Commuters complained that no police personnel were present to manage traffic during the blockade, adding to the chaos and inconvenience faced by motorists.
