 LAHORE: The Punjab government arrested 65 joint opposition workers from Multan and Okara and many others from different cities of the province for breaking the law during the strike call, Inspector General of Police office sources told Daily Times on Friday. The joint opposition had called for a wheel jam strike on Friday against alleged local elections rigging and increase in petrol prices. Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leaders alleged that the party workers had been arrested for no reason.
| "Dey wudn't doin' nuttin'! Just walkin' down the street, mindin' dere own bidnid..." |
A high-ranking police official said, "We have not registered any cases in other cities. The police arrested 12 PPP workers from Okara under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order and 53 men were arrested under MPO-16 in Multan." He did not say if the police had detained any men from any other city in the last 24 hours. Punjab Home Secretary Waseem Hassan Afzal said the inspector general had confirmed some arrests and would give details later. He said, "The police can detain political workers for 24 hours but if they need to be further detained then they will be referred to me." Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat denied the allegations and said, "How could we make preventive arrests? We cannot arrest traders for opening markets and transporters for running public transport". He said that a few law violators were arrested on Friday and would be dealt with acco |