KARACHI – Jamaat-e-Islami workers and police came face to face hours after detention of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi head Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman along with scores of other party workers here on Friday.
Soon after the detention of key leaders of metropolis, enraged JI workers blocked Karachi’s crucial thoroughfares including Shahrae-Faisal and M.A Jinnah road.
According to media reports, police resorted to aerial firing and fired tear gas shells in a bid to budge JI workers for continuous flow of traffic.
The tussle between JI and police started when JI workers were getting ready for staging a protest against Karachi Electric corporation regarding the recent hike in the tariff of the K-Electric corporation (KE).
Initially, JI had to protest at Shahrae-Faisal however, police staved off their plan and detained Hafiz Naeem, Usama Raazi and other party workers from Jamat-e-Islami’s Idara Noor-e-Haq.
According to party’s spokesperson, police also blocked the routes leading to Jamat-e-Islami’s Idara Noor-e-Haq.
JI supremo Siraj Ul Haq in his statement condemned the detention of workers and threatened that the party would stage a protest country-wide provided the workers were not released.
‘Sit-ins, gatherings, and protests are a democratic right of people’, he said.
