QUETTA:
The police in Quetta and several other Baluchistan districts arrested more than 200 workers and leaders of the opposition parties on Monday in a repression of a day linked to recent protest demonstrations.
Only in Quetta, more than 100 people were arrested by Sariab, Brewery, Airport Road, Bypass and other parts of the city.
The detainees included senior figures from different matches, such as the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal and Qahar Khan Wadan, the leader Malik Naseer Shahwani of the National Baluchistan Party and Tahir Shahwani and the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Iinsaf, Syed Agha.
Similar actions were reported in several districts. In Sorab, the president of the BNP district, Abdul Latif, and three supporters were collected to block the Quetta -Karachi road.
In Mastung, Haji Anwar Mengal of BNP and Mir Sikandar Mulazai of the National Party were among the 14 arrested.
Seven AP and PKMAP workers were rounded in Lorealai, while another eight, including high -level members of the National Party and BNP, were carried out in Jaffarabad.
Police also confirmed nine arrests in Nasirabad, 16 in Duki, including the general secretary of the district of PTI, Majeed Nasir, four in Sanjavi and several more in Kalat. In Chaman, around 15 PKMAP workers were arrested.
A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the arrests were caused after the protesters allegedly threw stones at vehicles and tried to force merchants to close their businesses.
However, opposition leaders strongly rejected this explanation.
In a press conference, a leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami party accused the police of using tear gas and canes “without provocation” against the workers who insisted on a peaceful protest.
“The right to protest is being denied by the authorities,” he said.
Radical arrests occur in the midst of increased political tensions in Baluchistan after the recent suicide bombing near the Shuhada stadium in Quetta, which charged several lives and caused new demonstrations throughout the province.
