HYDERABAD, Dec 31: An uneasy calm prevailed throughout the interior of Sindh on Monday but shopkeepers who had opened their businesses in the morning were forced to pull down the shutters following incidents of aerial firing in different towns.

Interior Sindh remained in the grip of rumours and the rumour about the assassination of senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Farooq Sattar spread like wildfire in Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Hyderabad and other towns.

Sattar himself had to contradict the rumour on TV channel to diffuse the situation.

Rumours also spread about riots in Nawabshah, which further aggravated the situation and created harassment and panic. Army, Rangers and police intensified patrolling to control the situation.

Petrol pumps, which were opened in the morning, were also closed down and people had to suffer a lot of inconvenience as they could neither buy petrol for their vehicles, nor essential kitchen items.

In the aftermath of loot, arson and vandalism during the past three days, police had registered 129 cases against 23,448 people in different districts and arrested 258 people.

In Nawabshah, 700 persons were booked for damaging properties while in Sanghar 100 people were arrested.

In Thatta district, 11 FIRs had been registered against 6,190 people.

In Badin 35 cases have been registered against 889 people while 37 have been arrested.

In Shikarpur district, 26 FIRs were registered against 5,000 people while 23 FIRs have been registered in Tando Allahyar against 666 people.

In Hyderabad, 34 cases had been registered and 71 people were arrested.

A shepherd shot himself to death in Nawabshah due to grief on the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.

A man was injured in Nawabshah when miscreants resorted to firing.

According to a spokesman of Goods Transport Owners Association, around 6,000 trucks, trailers, tankers, buses and wagons had been torched during the three-day riots.

He said the trucks loaded with goods had been looted and the transporters had suffered losses of millions of rupees. PPP leaders have denied the involvement of PPP activists in the incidents of loot and arson.

District president PPP Hyderabad and former MPA, Zahid Ali Bhurgari said that criminals were involved in vandalism and it was the job of the government to nab these elements.

It will be pertinent to point out here that the army had played a vital role in providing relief to the stranded passengers. It provided food and shelter and transportation to 3,000 train passengers, who were stranded in Nawabshah, Shahdadpur and other places.

The situation in Tando Mohammad Khan returned to normalcy as business activities resumed. However, at midday, some miscreants resorted to firing to force the shopkeepers to pull the shutters.

Police and Rangers rushed to the spot and arrested three persons namely Saeed Bhatti, Sherry Sathio and Munawar. A pistol and some bullets were recovered from their possession.

District Nazim Mir Inayat Ali Talpur and Taluka Nazim Mir Ghulamullah Talpur told reporters that the situation was totally under control.

He said, a survey was being conducted in the district to assess the damages and a report will be submitted to the government after the survey was completed.

Cases of loot, arson and vandalism have been registered at different police stations of the district against more than 2,000 persons. Some 50 people have been taken into custody and are under interrogation.

In Tando Allahyar, the nazim of UC Pyaro Lund, Qasim Lund has filed an FIR against 66 people following the death of two employees of taluka council Jhando Mari, who were burnt alive by the arsonists.

13 FIRs have been registered at Chambar police station against 100 people and nine FIRs were lodged at Tando Allahyar police station against 500 people.

M.H. Khan reports from Hyderabad: Aerial firing in some parts of the city forced closure of shops on Monday afternoon as the city started returning to normality following four days of harassment and violence.

Shopkeepers had started opening the shops.

People started appearing on road while movement of traffic had also started improving. Shops were found opened in Market, Lajpat road, Hirabad, Gari Khata, units of Latifabad.

However, all of a sudden incidents of aerial firing were reported in Gari Khata and Saddar, causing panic among people. It led to closure of shops.

Zulfiqar Memon adds from Nawabshah: A man was seriously injured when some miscreants opened fire in Regal Chowk Gharibabad.

The city which was returning to normalcy was again shut down after some unknown people resorted to firing in various parts of city.

Aijaz Khokhar, 30, was injured when some miscreants opened fire at him at Regal Chowk in Gharibabad and threatened the shopkeepers to close their business.

The injured was shifted to NMC Hospital.

The entire shops in the area were closed and the miscreants managed to escape.

At least 700 persons were booked for damaging government properties at various police stations of the district.

Iqbal Khwaja adds from Thatta: Hours after the restoration of normal life in Thatta town, armed men stormed the town and harassed the people by indiscriminate aerial firing resulting in immediate closure of all bazaars and business centres.

Paramilitary troops which are on occasional patrolling, advised the people o remain indoor to avert any eventuality.

PPP local leaders Sassui Palijo, Wazir Memon, Babu Ghulam Hussain and others claimed that their party rivals were availing the opportunity to implicate PPP activists in fake FIRs.

About 6,190 PPP activists, contestants and former legislators have been nominated in 11 FIRs registered at various police stations of Thatta district. At Thatta police station 1,700 activists were booked, at Makli 1,000 activists, at Ghorabari 40 activists, at Gharo 2,500 activists, at Bathoro at 700 activists and at Sujawal police station 250 activists have been nominated in the FIR.

Those nominated included PPP contestant Sassui Palijo, her father former MNA Ghulam Qadir Palijo, Sattar Lohar, former MNA Usman Jalbani and others.

Mansoor Mirani reports from Khairpur: As trade activities in Khairpur city were resumed after four days, people rushed to markets to purchase vegetables, medicines and kitchen items, for which the shopkeepers charged high prices.

Niaz Mohammad Khan adds from Sanghar: Tando Adam and Shahdadpur towns were closed for a short time in protest when rumours of death of Farooq Sattar due to bomb blast reached here. After three hours, the condition was normalised.

Abdul Aziz adds from Naushahro Feroze: After warning by the army on Sunday night in Moro, people voluntarily returned more than 60 fridges, refrigerators and TV and four computer at taluka council Moro.

People were also dropping the looted goods in the streets which are being collected by the taluka council staff.

The time was given up to 4pm on Monday at the request of district nazim, the time have been extended up to Tuesday 4pm.

Army also raided different places to recover the looted items.

GOC Saleem Bajwa also visited Naushahro Feroze and held meeting with district management at police lines and directed to recover the looted goods.

At Mehrabpur police station, three reporters of Kawish, Koshish and Sindh — Altaf Awan, Qurban Gadhi and Iqbal Gadhi and 319 others — have been booked in FIR (No. 112) under Section 435, 436, 148, 147 and 7 ATA lodged by Mukhtiar Kamboh.

NBP Mehrabpur guard, Javed Akhtar Siyal lodged an FIR that several hundred people entered the bank and burnt the bank.

In Naushahro Feroze, hundreds of bags of wheat have been recovered by army.

The DCO Naushahro Feroze, Ashfaq Umrani, told Dawn that transporters have refused to provide buses to send 1,100 passengers of Karachi Express which was burnt at Mehrabpur station some 12 days ago. He said that the matter has been referred to colonel Mateen so that Rangers and police may arrange the buses.

Naushahro Feroze town returned to normalcy.

Ghanshamdas adds from Jacobabad: The Army and Rangers continued patrolling in the city.

Some youth carrying batons got the bazaars closed, which were opened after a break of four days. Kaloo Mal, 45, died of cardiac arrest when he along with other shopkeepers tried to run in a bid to save himself from the protesters.

City wore a deserted look as people were compelled to remain indoors.

Shortage of food items hit hard the people.

Rahmatullah Soomro reports from Shikarpur: The life returned to normalcy and the transportation plying on the roads as usual after four days of disturbances in city and other parts of the district.

26 FIRs were registered against the incidents of violence occurred in city and the other parts of the district.

According to DPO Shikarpur, Mansoor Mughal, more than 5,000 people were involved in damaging public properties and creating law and order situation.

Mohammad Hashim Khan Bhurgari adds from Badin: As many as 35 cases against 8,892 people have so far been registered in various police stations of the district and only 37 people have been arrested.They would be tried in the anti-terrorists courts.

As compared to heavy losses in the district, this figure of the cases registered is only one-fourth as large number of complainants still waiting for their turn to get their complaints registered at police stations.

Qurban Ali Khushik adds from Dadu: All towns of Dadu and Jamshoro districts returned to normalcy on Monday.

In the morning, few shops were opened in Dadu city. Later, a 40-member delegation, led by PPP district president and candidate for NA-232, Rafique Ahmed Jamali visited the bazzars and other parts of town and assured appealed shopkeepers to open their shops.

Rafique Ahmed Jamali said that those attacking the shops did not belong to PPP. He said that if anyone was pressurising them to close shops, they should inform him. On his assurance shops were opened.

A group of youth ridding on motorcycles passed on main road of Dadu and asked shopkeepers to close shops. Later shopkeepers opened shops when police and Rangers patrolled city and bazaars.

Lawyers offered Ghaibana Nemaz-i-Janaza of Benazir Bhutto in Dadu and Mehar.

Some 500 cases have been registered at Dadu, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Johi, Sehwan, Thariri Mohabbat police stations against 10 thousands unidentified people for damaging private and government properties.

Qamaruddin adds from Mirpurkhas: Markets, bazaars and shopping centres were opened and business activities resumed but after 12 noon some unidentified armed persons resorted to aerial firing at M.A. Jinnah road which created harassment and shopkeepers immediately pulled down shutter and markets were closed.

Later, officers of law-enforcing agencies and taluka nazim Mirpurkhas Ghulam Dastagir Khan visited different parts of the city and assured shopkeepers for their safety on which mostly shops reopened.

Transports remained closed at Khipro, Digri, Mithi, Sanghar, Hyderabad, Tando Adam routes. People experienced hardships to reach their destination.

Reports said that some shops in Mirwah Gorchani, Digri, Kot Ghulam Mohammad, Jhuddo and Naukot remained opened. However, mostly petrol pumps remained closed in Mirpurkhas.

Bazaars were opened at Umerkot in the morning, however, in noon all shops and markets were closed to protest against setting ablaze portraits of a PML-F leader.

Umerkot police arrested three people for damaging the public properties.