DADU: One policeman was wounded in an exchange of fire between a group of Sindh Taraqqi-Pasand Party (STP) and Nawabshah police during a protest demonstration on Monday, when a call for a shutterdown strike across Shaheed Benazir­abad district was given by the party.

According to the police, a group of armed STP activists were forcing shopkeepers to pull down the shutters at Regal Chowk. The area police tried to stop them. One of the activists fired some shots at the police wounding constable Ramzan Jamali and the others snatched his official gun. According to sources, the police team fired into the air to scare away the activists after failing to disperse them by applying baton charge.

STP leaders, however, said that the call for a shutterdown strike in was given against increasing incidents of crime in the city and a crackdown on its workers in Nawabshah, Sakrand and other areas continuing for many days. They deplored that police raided the residence of its senior leader, Nisar Keerio, to arrest him in a case pertaining to theft of a car.

Groups of STP activists held demonstrations in different areas of the two cities and, according to reports, police baton charged them at several points to disperse them.

Over two dozen activists injured, arrested in police action, says Magsi

The party claimed that over two dozen of its activists, workers and supporters were injured and picked up during the police action. It also claimed that all main markets and bazaars, fuel stations, shops and vending stalls remained closed in Nawabshah and Sakrand in response to the strike call. Police, however, claimed that no strike was observed anywhere in the [Shaheed Benazirabad] district.

Police version

SSP Saud Ahmed Magsi told the media that actually STP’s Nawabshah chapter had given the strike call specifically over non-recovery of the car.

Nisar Keerio, STP’s Shaheed Benazirabad district president, believed and accused former DSP of Tando Allahyar CIA Aslam Langah and his security guard of involvement in the “theft of the car along with a crime weapon”, the SSP said, and revealed that the car belonged to a proclaimed offender, Zeeshan Jaskhani, who was nominated in two murder cases — one pertaining to the murder of an MQM activist, Kalil Khanzada alias Bholu.

Bholu murder case

It is pertinent to mention here that Bholu was shot dead outside the Tando Allahyar sessions court on January 21 this year. He along with his brother arrived at the court on a motorcycle to attend the hearing of his case pertaining to the Nov 18, 2020 murder case of then STP vice chairman Altaf Jaskani.

A car carrying Jaskani’s brother, Asad Jaskani, and his friends hit the two-wheeler and when Bholu tried to run to safety by entering the court, one of the car occupants shot him dead.

The area police claimed that the man who fired on him was Asad Jaskani and that the other occupants of the car also fired multiple shots on Bholu. Asad sustained bullet wounds in the shooting “by his friends from inside the car”, the police said. The prime suspect in Altaf Jaskani murder case is Aslam Rind, who has been in police custody. Asad’s brother, Zeeshan Jaskani, was nominated as one of the accused in the Bholu murder case and he has been absconding since then.

STP leader accused of firing on police

SSP Saud Magsi told the media on Monday that Nisar Keerio was insisting on nominating former CIA DSP Aslam Langah and his security guard in the car theft case. The FIR has been registered against “unknown” suspects.

“Today, Nisar Keerio and his associates tried to force shopkeepers to pull down the shutters in Nawabshah upon which the area police moved into action.

However, Keerio fired shots with his pistol wounding constable Ramzan Jamali and then his [Keerio’s] associates took away the constable’s official rifle,” said the SSP, adding that nine suspects were arrested following the incident. He claimed that no strike was observed in any part of the district.

STP chairman leads rally

Leading a rally of his party workers, STP chairman Dr Qadir Magsi accused police of applying baton charge on peaceful protesters during a strike in Nawabshah against increasing incidents of theft, robbery and other crimes.

He claimed that over two dozen party activists were injured and arrested during police action. He said that the SSP was victimising STP workers to appease PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. “The district police always obeyed PPP leadership’s illegal orders,” he alleged, and claimed that Nisar Keerio had already been implicated in fake cases. He deplored the recent police raid on Keerio’s residence, and alleged that his family members were manhandled and some of them taken away by the raiding team.

Dr Magsi demanded immediate release of all STP workers and warned of an intensified protest drive across Sindh if they were not set free and cases against them were not withdrawn.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2022