KARACHI, May 23: Expressing solidarity with their colleagues arrested for allegedly stealing railway material, Karachi division railway officials observed a ‘pen-down’ strike, wore black armbands and did not carry out any work on Thursday.

Responding to Dawn queries, Karachi railways spokesperson Imtiaz Ahmed confirmed that the officers were protesting against the arrest of their colleagues — Ghulam Qadir Mahesar (divisional engineer), Faisal Imran (lands), and Akhtar Ali (assistant engineer) — by the railway police on Wednesday, he said.

He said that allegations against them were related to theft of railway tracks between Shahdadkot and Jacobabad and some railway material. He said that the issue was still under investigation and there was no reason to arrest the senior officials and demanded their immediate release.

Meanwhile, Railway Workers Union chief Manzoor Razi criticised the strike by the railway officials in support of the people accused of stealing railway material and said that when workers protested against the management, the officials took action against the

workers. But now the officials were supporting the people who were accused of stealing railway property, he said.

He demanded an independent probe into the issue.