School buses and passenger vehicles were caught in a massive traffic jam on Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi after protests erupted against a raid on a call centre a day earlier.
Long queues of vehicles built up on the track leading from Baloch Colony towards Saddar, leaving several school vans and passenger buses stranded for hours.
The protest followed a raid by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on an allegedly illegal call centre, where 273 people, including young men and women, were present.
The operation continued for several hours, prompting parents to arrive outside the call centre. Families had also staged a protest on Shahrah-e-Faisal last night over the raid.
The NCCIA is scheduled to hold a press conference at 4pm today to brief the media on the matter.
Earlier, in a separate development, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon directed authorities to open U-turns along the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route on University Road, stressing the need for extraordinary measures to ensure the project’s timely completion.
The directives were issued during a meeting of the Transport and Mass Transit Department chaired by Sharjeel Memon. Transport Secretary Asad Zamin, TransKarachi CEO Zubair Channa, Yellow Line Project Director Kamal Dayo and other officials attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Memon expressed hope that a new consignment of double-decker and electric (EV) buses would arrive in Karachi soon. He directed officials to finalise all necessary arrangements for their operation, including routes, charging stations, depots, bus stops and other technical and administrative requirements.
He emphasised the need for comprehensive planning covering all aspects of bus operations and services, stating that increasing the number of buses must go hand in hand with improving routes and operational systems. The senior minister further directed authorities to ensure that double-decker and electric buses serve areas of Karachi where residents have the greatest need for public transport facilities.
