President All City Tajir Ittehad taken under arrest for defying lockdown

KARACHI: President All City Tajir Ittehad was taken under arrest by local police on Wednesday over allegations of defying coronavirus lockdown restrictions, ARY News reported.

The police took President All City Tajir Ittehad Hammad Poonawala into custody along with four others.

The traders had forcibly opened shops disregarding government orders, the police therefore took action and ‘Iron Market’ area of the metropolis was completely shut down.

All City Tajir Ittehad members have claimed that the police roughed them up and forced them to shut down shops.

Karachi traders summoned an emergency meeting earlier in the day after their deadline to the Sindh government to resume businesses in the metropolis expired yesterday.

The Sindh government had asked the traders to wait till Tuesday before they finalise the SOPs needed to resume businesses.

“We will finalize the next move if any hindrance from the government is created in refraining us from opening our shops,” said President Sindh Tajir Ittehad Jameel Paracha.

He said that they had to stop paying power dues and expel their employees to overcome the financial constraints faced due to coronavirus lockdown.

Paracha said that the provincial ministers Saeed Ghani and Nasir Hussain Shah were not responding to their phone calls.