Protest in Pakistan province Sindh's Islamkot against labourer's death intensifies

The ongoing protest in Sindh's Islamkot over the recent death of a worker from the Bheel community has intensified with demonstrations spreading to other cities including Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas after police moved to suppress the stir.

Dawn reported that Dodo Bheel, a labourer hired by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) was one of the several workers detained by some security guards of the company for 14 days for interrogation over theft of scrap from a store in the Thar Coal project's Block-II, according to the bereaved family.

The workers and their relatives had been holding sit-ins and demonstrations in Pakistan province since his (Dodo Bheel) death.

The family alleges that the security guards subjected the victim, besides other detained labourers, to intense torture and handed him over to the Islamkot police when his condition turned critical.

The campaign was suspended on Friday evening after local politicians and police authorities assured them that the suspects, nominated in the FIR, would be arrested. However, they resumed the protest on Saturday evening as the suspects were not arrested.

However, a ministerial committee was formed to probe the matter.

Dawn quoting Tharparkar SSP Hassan Sardar Niazi reported that eight security guards were detained for interrogation but the Bheel community came to know that those nominated in the FIR were not among them.

According to the publication, in the late hours of Sunday, police moved into action and started baton-charging the protesters and tried to arrest some of the 150 protesters booked under certain sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Pakistan Penal Code.

During the police action, a number of people were injured including eight local reporters -- Jhaman Misrani, Imtiaz Dharani, Sadiq Bajeer, Junaid Azad, Ghazi Bajeer, Sudheer Rathore and Sadiq Bajeer -- who said their cameras and mobile phones were broken or taken away by policemen, reported Dawn.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday constituted a committee comprising three ministers -- Syed Sardar Shah, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh and Nawab Taimur Talpur -- to hold a probe into the whole affair and submit a report at the earliest.

( With inputs from ANI )

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