Angry traders go on rampage to protest killing of colleague

Hundreds of angry traders went on the rampage and blocked the main M A Jinnah Road by staging a sit-in and then worn-out jackets and cloths to protest the killing of their colleague here on Tuesday afternoon. The protesting traders were demanding of the government to arrest the murderers of their colleague who was killed on resistance the other day at his shop inside the Lighthouse second-hand cloth market on M A Jinnah Road.
Traders of Timber Market at Old Haji Camp, Lyari also protested the armed robbery incidents in which three persons, including a trader, his worker and a guard were shot-injured and outlaws looted Rs 1 lakh and the victims' mobile phones, according to the traders. They burnt tyres on the road and blocked the vehicular traffic and chanted slogans. "Traders in the city are now feeling insecure from the street criminals, as armed robberies in markets are on the rise," said Chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Muhammad Atiq Mir, adding the writ of the provincial government had reduced to 'mere its claims'.
Later, the Rangers dispersed the protestors and cleared the scattered ash heaps to reopen the M A Jinnah Road for traffic. Traders, however, blamed the Rangers for beating up some of their colleagues and damaging their property. "Both markets in protest remained closed," Atiq Mir said, adding the incidents of armed robberies had peaked, as markets in the metropolis were no longer safe from street criminals, who largely enjoyed support from certain influential power corridors.
He said traders were in the trap of robbers who fearlessly resort to gunshots to kill whoever would offer resistance to foil their criminal action. To the fresh claims of Interior Minister, Rehman Malik about the peace return to the city, he said, the minister had known nothing about the Karachi and its situation, since he depended on intelligence agencies and police which showed the city as a "heaven" in their reports.
He said police high-ups had, however, visited the market and met traders, assuring them of tight security arrangements against the criminals. "Police just arrives at the scene of crime and assures protection and security to traders till next such incident takes place. It is now a routine formality," he said.
Atiq Mir said the police had failed and needed a thorough restructuring with fresh blood injection of competent, resolved and sincere youth to take over the very important department to restore the peace to the "burning" city. He also wanted the government to depoliticise the police department in order to reach the outlaws indiscriminately.