BANNU, Pakistan: The Chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee Marvi Memon and others have staged a sit-in in front of Central Jail Bannu on Saturday, seeking release of the all the internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrested during a clash with police at Sports Complex in Bannu.
A clash broke out at a food distribution centre near the Bannu Sports Complex between police and the IDPs of North Waziristan on Thursday that left at least two IDPs dead and 11 others injured.
During the clash, 17 policemen were also injured while several IDPs were arrested.
Marvi Memon called upon the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to immediately release all the IDPs and said that the sit-in would continue until the release of the arrested IDPs.
The Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed her to visit Bannu to get first-hand information about the problems of the IDPs so that steps can be taken for resolving those problems.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nasir Durrani directed the Bannu police to withdraw cases against the arrested IDPs.
The provincial information Minister Mushtaq Ghani said that the IDPs tried to take law in their hands.
The minister said that the issue was solved through Jirga efforts, adding that Marvi Memon’s politics on this issue is useless.
On the other hand, according to media reports, the mismanagement was again witnessed at the Sports Complex relief center in Bannu today.
The reports said that the IDPs pelted stones at police which used baton charge to disperse the protesters.
Rasheed demands immediate release of arrested IDPs
The federal information minister Pervaiz Rasheed has demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to immediately release all affected people of North Waziristan detained in Bannu prison.
In a statement, the information minister said that the provincial government should make appropriate measures for the displaced families.
