Police use force,

PESHAWAR: Police on Tuesday used batons and tear gas to disperse the employees of the prison department, who were protesting outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly against their sacking a day earlier.

The employees kept the Khyber Road blocked for several hours to protest their removal from service. Police also arrested several demonstrators. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has cancelled the appointment of 796 warders to the provincial prisons after criticism in the assembly over the alleged irregularities in recruitments by the provincial legislators belonging to the ruling PTI.

The protesters holding placards and banners inscribed with anti-government slogans, also chanted against the provincial government. The hours long blockade of the city’s main artery caused traffi c jams on other roads, creating hardships for motorists and general public.

Talking to mediapersons, the protesters said they were appointed on January 22, but the government terminated them due to internal differences with the PTI MPAs.

Later, Peshawar commissioner Riaz Masood tried to talk to the protesting employees, but they refused. The protest turned violent, when employees refused to open road until assurance of reinstatement, forcing police to resort to baton charge and tear gas to disperse them.

However, the protesters also retaliated by pelting stones on police offi cials. During the skirmish, a number of workers were injured.

Published in KAKA February 18th , 2015