Murree protesters booked in several anti-terrorism cases

MURREE: Police have registered several cases under the anti-terrorism act against the participants of a peaceful protest against the Murree Development Plan announced by the Punjab government.

The FIRs have been registered in Murree and Kotli Sattian police stations against more than 30 unknown persons.

Anjuman-i-Tajran member Raja Tufail Akhlaq, PPP’s Murtaza Satti, Latasib Satti, Sardar Saleem, Col (retd) Saeed, Humayun Murtaza, Atif Murtaza, and 29 others are also been nominated in cases.

Sections of the Anti-terrorism Act and several others were included in the cases.

Joint Action Committee and Anjuman-i-Tajran strongly condemned the cases and announced a protest walk on Mall Road in Murree.

“Registration of cases against peaceful jirga is unacceptable,” Anjuman-i-Tajran Murree member Raja Tufail said.

Several political parties, including the PPP and PTI, and traders joined the demonstration dubbed by the protesters as ‘grand jirga’ against the newly announced Murree Development Plan.

Despite the imposition of Section 144 in Murree, a large number of people attended the demonstration, due to which all roads to Murree remained blocked for three to four hours.

The protesters have also announced a shutter-down strike in the hill station on December 27, demanding the government to stop the implementation of the development plan, which they feared would cost the locals their jobs and livelihoods.

The participants urged the government not to make people jobless in the name of development or acquire land from locals without any reason. The plan will reportedly end 200-year-old bazaars in Jhika Gali and The Mall.