After the BYC protest in Karachi, the Sindh government imprisoned leader Sammi Deen Baloch and four others for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) on Tuesday.
Karachi police arrested Sammi and others on Monday for breaking Section 144 and broke up the BYC’s rally against its leadership’s detention and a Quetta sit-in crackdown.
The BYC threatened to protest at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) against the “illegal detention” of its leaders, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, who was arrested on Saturday with 16 other activists from their Quetta protest camp after claiming three protesters had died in police action.
Artillery Maidan police in Karachi charged Sammi and five other activists with breaking Section 144 under Section 188 (disobedience to a public servant’s order).
The Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) proposed a 30-day imprisonment for Sammi, Razzak Ali, Abdul Wahab Baloch, Shehdad, and Sultan in Tuesday’s home department order.
The five were “instigating public to block roads and organise sit-ins in Karachi, which may disturb peace and tranquility and can create serious law and order problems”, according to the order
It said the five people “is likely to pose grave threat to the public safety and can cause breach of peace and tranquility.”
The Sindh government “has sufficient reasons to believe that the five people should be arrested and detained for 30 days from the date of arrest,” the ruling stated.
The Central Prison Karachi senior superintendent would supervise them, the decree stated.
On Monday, Abdul Wahab, Mustafa Ali, Shahzad Rab, Hamza Iftikhar, and Sultan Hamal were arrested.
According to a policeman’s FIR, 35-40 men and women attempted to enter the Red Zone near Fawara Chowk. The complaint said police tried to stop them, but demonstrators forced their way into the sensitive location.
The police arrested Sammi, Abdul Wahab, and four others while others fled.
The commissioner imposed Section 144 before the protest, and temporary barricades barred all roads to the Karachi Press Club.
This generated hours-long traffic bottlenecks in the city center, as many people broke their fast.
