An angry mob torched the house of Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar in Moro town of Naushehro Feroze district on Tuesday after the police clashed with protesters in which one person was killed and 11 others, including three policemen sustained injuries, witnesses said.
The enraged workers burnt rooms and furniture and even threw outers of the split air conditioners from the roof on the ground. Their action was repelled when reinforcement of private guards reached the house.
The armed guards were recorded in several videos firing gunshots in the air to disperse the charged mob. The black fumes darkened the skies over the Lanjar house and the smoke covered sky could be seen several kilometers away.
Moro was shut immediately as violence erupted in the town, with the protesters burning at least three cargo trailers on the National Highway, forcing the local authorities to call in police force from other districts to control the law and order situation.
In a video dozen of persons can be seen climbing on a truck trawler shipping urea bags. Before burning those vehicles, they looted the bags as some of them threw them down from the truck while others took the bags away on their motorbikes.
Another video on social media showed an injured policeman, who was bleeding from his head, tried to enter a government hospital but he was hurled out of the premises. Men carrying sticks forcefully entered a petrol pump’s manager room and allegedly looted cash.
Videos shared on social media showed protesters thrashing cops with sticks and hurling abuses while the policemen continued aerial firing and teargas shelling.
A man wearing partially blood soaked clothes alleged that personal guards of Lanjar opened fire on the protesters. The police reinforcement from Nawabshah and Sukkur were called to restore law and order in the district.
The protest was called by a nationalist organisation in Moro against the Indus canals, corporate farming, and other issues. When the protesters tried to stage a sit-in on the national highway, the police intervened and tried to forcefully breakup the demonstrators.
During the clash, the protesters claimed, the police opened fire on them. They said that one protester, Zahid Leghari, died of injuries, while eight others including Irfan Leghari, Mohsin, Vishal Leghari, and Mir Hazar Korai were injured.
Initially, the injured were taken to a Moro Hospital, from where they were shifted to Nawabshah because of their critical condition. The protesters also burnt cargo trailers, plying on the National Highway which snaked through the Moro town.
Three injured cops and two workers were shifted from Moro to Peoples Medical College Hospital in Benazirabad district. The hospital sources have confirmed death of at least one worker identified as Zahid Hussain, son of Allah Bachayo Laghari.
Medical Superintendent Dr Yar Ali Jamali informed that Laghari had sustained two gunshots. Farhan Laghari, another injured worker, is also said to be in a critical condition. He is being kept alive on a ventilator. The MS told informed cops were injured by stones and sticks.
Later, a mob, wearing balaclavas, attacked the Lanjar House and set it on fire, a spokesperson said. No one except some staff were present in the house at the time of arson attack. The spokesperson stated that the attackers burnt furniture and injured some servants there.
As the police struggled to maintain order in the town, another mob took hold of three policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Fayyaz Dahri and subjected them to torture. However, they were freed later, according to eyewitnesses.
Reports indicated that a mob threw stones at the Moro police station, while the police resorted to aerial firing to disperse them. As the night fell, tension gripped Moro with shops closed and people staying indoors.
The Sindh home minister took notice of the violence in Moro and ordered an investigation. Large police contingents from Nawabshah, Dadu and Hyderabad districts had reached the town and helping the local police to restore order.