Two killed in protests over TLP Chief Saad Hussain Rizvi's arrest

At least two people were killed and several others were injured when violence erupted in major cities of Pakistan following the arrest of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Chief Saad Hussain Rizvi.

On Monday, Lahore police arrested the TLP chief on Wahdat Road, where he had gone to attend a funeral. Pir Ejaz Ashrafi said that police did not give any reason for arresting the chief.

On Sunday, Rizvi had asked the TLP workers to be ready to lunch the long march on April 20 if the government failed to meet the deadline. Earlier, TLP and the government had agreed to reach a consensus in the parliament regarding the expulsion of the French Ambassador within three months. The TLP was protesting blasphemous caricatures published in France and demanding that the import of goods from that country be banned.

Following the chief's arrest, protesters took to the streets and blocked the Grand Trunk Road on a number of points. Sit-ins were held in main cities like Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Peshawar and Karachi.

Police in Lahore told DAWN that two constables and one station house officer were injured, saying that TLP activists were attacking police parties that were trying to disperse the protesters.

In Karachi, Chhipa charity organisation said a man was shot dead in Orangi Town-5 during firing at a protest sit-in. Meanwhile, 500 TLP supporters have been arrested so far, Express Tribune reported.