At least four people were injured as protests continued in Balochistan’s Chagai district on Monday over the killing of a driver allegedly by security forces last week, a private TV channel reported.
Violent protests had erupted on April 15 in the district’s Nokkundi and Dalbandin areas against the killing of the driver after he allegedly tried to speed away despite being signalled to stop in Panch Raik area near the Pak-Afghan border, official sources said.
Four individuals, who were injured during Monday’s protest, were taken to a trauma centre in Quetta for treatment, according to the centre’s managing director Syed Yasir Hussain Shah. Shah said medical services were being provided to the injured on the orders of Balochistan Health Minister Syed Ehsan Shah and the health secretary.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo took notice of the tense situation and sought a detailed report from the Rakhshan division commissioner, according to a statement issued by the Directorate General Public Relations. CM Bizenjo also ordered the chief secretary to immediately transfer Chagai’s deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioners of Taftan and Dalbandin.
The chief minister appealed to the people of Chagai to remain calm and said the driver’s death would be fully investigated. “No injustice will be done with the driver’s family,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Balochistan National Party-Mengal chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal claimed that six people were “critically injured by the Frontier Corps (FC)” during the protests. “How can we be part of this government when such incidents take place? Are these confidence-building measures? Is violence going to solve Balochistan’s problem? Our priority is Balochistan and its people and I want to categorically state that there will be no compromise,” he warned.
