KARACHI: Police apprehended numerous Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) activists on Friday as they gathered at the Arts Council roundabout to hold a protest march against alleged torture and detention in Gwadar.
According to the BYC, police manhandled rally participants and arrested around 50 workers, including women, when they attempted to march on the Karachi Press Club.
According to the statement, the gathering was held to expose the police’s excessive force in Gwadar.
DIG-South Syed Asad Raza refuted any torture or baton charges, saying, “The district administration and local police had warned the organisers in advance not to violate the ban on holding any unlawful assembly in the Red Zone.”
According to a police officer who asked not to be identified, more than a dozen protestors were seized and escorted to the Aram Bagh police station.
He stated that the female demonstrators were freed immediately. However, 14 male activists were detained and charged under relevant parts of the Pakistan Penal Code, he stated.
Nida Kirmani, a rights activist and professor, was also among those held. She informed reporters that police freed her and four other ladies after four to five hours of incarceration.
BYC leader Fauzia Baloch told the media that officers recorded their recordings while in jail and then leaked them. – Supernews.pk
Maria Ghanchi