KARACHI, Nov 28: Police booked 29 people for rioting, damaging property and attacking police on Thursday evening, the second day of Eidul Fitr, at Funland, Clifton.
The violence broke out when some people attempted to abduct women performers at a variety show near Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine on the premises of the Funland. There were also reports of some people resorting to eve-teasing which sparked off a free-for-all. Police had to intervene to bring the situation under control. Several people reportedly suffered minor injuries.
Those arrested include Jehanzeb, Saleem, Afzal Khan and Raqeeb, who allegedly attacked police, set property on fire and instigated people to rioting. The other booked have been charged with involvement in the rioting, the police said.
According to reports, a total of 80 people were picked up during the violence but 51 of them were, after initial investigation, found innocent.
Police and witnesses said that some people from among the audience at the variety show, where local artistes were presenting their performance, tried to come closer to women performers. As they grabbed the artistes, the organizers intervened prompting a clash. Some miscreants reportedly resorted to tease women among the audience which further aggravated the situation leading it to a free-for-all.
The police, upon receiving the information, rushed to the scene and tried to restore peace. They rescued women performers and audience and escorted them away from the trouble spot in their mobile vans. However, the police move provoked the youths who were trying to abduct the women performers. In a fit of anger, they set afire the stage and tents erected for the programme. Some of the enraged youthsset a car on fire and pelted moving vehicles with stones along the nearby roads and streets.
The mob also blocked the main Clifton road, in front of the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine, and partially destroyed a number of shops as well as other public and private property.
One of the fire-tenders also came under attack by the stone throwers while the crew was trying to extinguish the fire engulfing a car, according to a spokesman for the fire department.
Police said that miscreants pelted them and their mobile vans with stones and tried to set the vehicle on fire during the action to bring the situation under control. To disperse the mob, police had to fire teargas shells and blank shots.
The Boating Basin police rounded up about 80 people from the scene where disturbances continued for more than two hours.
Later, one of the organizer of the programme, Dilshad, was taken into custody. Police claimed that Dilshad had paid illegal gratification amounting to Rs40,000 to a councillor of Mehmoodabad, Nawaz, for the issuance a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the show.The TPO, Saddar, SSP Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, maintained that the city government had issued NOCs for three variety shows on the premises of the Funland without consulting the concerned police.
On Friday, police removed the tents and other structures from the venue of the programmes.
CIRCUS: A Chinese circus company has protested the removal of tents and flags from the venue of a cultural show it had organized at Boating Basin.
Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club Friday evening, the organizers criticized 'hostile attitude' of the Boating Basin police.
Mumtaz Ali and Ms Shi Xhu Mei told newsmen that the show was aimed at further promote the friendship between Pakistan and China. They maintained that necessary permissions from all the concerned authorities, including the ministries of culture and interior, as well as police, had already been obtained.
They alleged that the police had arbitrarily removed the two countries' flags, tents, etc., and ordered the company not to go ahead with the programme. "We went to the police station but their attitude was shameful and disgusting," the organizers deplored, and appealed to the prime minister and the governor of Sindh to look into the matter.
