Karachi (Web Desk): Police and paramilitary troops on Friday baton-charged people protesting against the demolition of Nasla Tower on the orders of Supreme Court (SC).
Earlier in the day, the top court directed Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon that the tower must be demolished within a week and a report to be submitted.
The Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) staged the protest, disrupting traffic flow on Shahrah-e-Faisal near Nursery roundabout.
Following the eruption of the protest, police and Rangers reached the site to control the situation when the baton-charged the protesters and also fired tear gas to disperse them.
Traffic on the road that links the city with the airport and the national highway has now been restored while security officials are present around the Nasla Tower.
As per a representative of the builders’ association, the building had been constructed after getting approvals from the authorities concerned.
On November 24, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed reprimanded Karachi commissioner after submission of the demolition report on Nasla Tower, and ordered to raze the building immediately and submit the report till afternoon.
According to details, a three-judge bench of the top court headed by CJP Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed heard the case of a building declared to have been built on encroached land along with the Shahra-e-Faisal.
“We will send you straight to the jail,” CJP said while showing resentment over the report. After being reprimanded by the country’s top judge, commissioner Karachi apologized to the larger.
Later, the court ordered the commissioner to take all the available machinery and start demolishing the Nasla Tower.