However, the Superhighway was cleared to traffic when the police took action after the negotiations failed to peacefully disperse the protesters. Police said 25 people were taken into custody. Earlier, city police chief Javed Akhar Odho told media that around 2,000 people had blocked both tracks of the Superhighway near Sohrab Goth.
He said contingents of police led by DIG-East Muquddus Haider and SSPs of East, Malir and Central and Special Security Unit had arrived on the spot to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
He said certain elements resorted to firing. As a result, one man suffered bullet wounds. A bus had also been set on fire, he said, adding that the police and other law enforcers had tried to disperse the protesters peacefully. A traffic police spokesperson said that because of the protest at Sohrab Goth, the traffic coming from the Superhighway was diverted from Jamali Pull to a Model Road and inside roads towards Safoora Goth.
Later in the night, East-SSP Syed Abdul Rahim Sherazi told media that the highway from Sohrab Goth to Jamali Pull had been cleared to traffic after a police action. He said a bus and two motorbikes were torched by the mob. The police and other law enforcers saved a heavy vehicle from an arson attack by protesters. An Edhi Foundation spokesperson in a statement said that they recovered one tortured body from the Superhighway near the Taj petrol pump. The body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors stated that the victim had been shot in his head. He was identified as Nazeer Allah Warayo, a resident of Lasi Goth.
Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said there was a single bullet wound on his forehead. A Motorway police official said both tracks of M-9 remained blocked for around three hours.