Law and Order Deteriorating on Quetta-Karachi Highway: Two More Passenger Coaches Held Hostage, Drivers Abducted, Passengers Left Helpless in Open Field — Transporters’ Leaders

QUETTA (Daily Qudrat Quetta): Transporters have strongly protested the incident in which two more passenger coaches travelling from Quetta to Karachi were taken hostage along with their drivers by armed men, and passengers were left in an open field, raising serious questions over the performance of the government and law-enforcement agencies.

According to the transporters, the armed men took the drivers of both coaches with them, while passengers were left helpless in an open field, increasing concerns over the security of passenger coaches and the safety of travellers. In their reaction, well-known transporters Habibullah Badiezai, Haji Mir Akbar Lehri, Haji Nasrullah Dhawar and others said that such incidents involving passenger coaches on the Quetta-Karachi national highway have left transporters and passengers in severe distress. On one hand, passengers travel to reach their destination safely, while on the other they face such grave situations along the way. They said that leaving passengers in an open field and taking drivers away with them is an extremely worrying situation that must be taken immediate notice of.

The transporters said that vehicles are stopped for hours at various check posts in the name of searching, due to which passenger coaches get separated from the designated convoy. According to them, long waits and unnecessary delays disrupt the sequence of vehicles, and passenger coaches face security problems along the route. They demanded that the search process at check posts be made effective, fast and organised so that vehicles do not separate from the convoy and the safety of passengers is ensured.

Habibullah Badiezai, Haji Mir Akbar Lehri, Haji Nasrullah Dhawar and other transporters said that despite such incidents occurring repeatedly, if passenger coaches and their drivers are not provided protection, the sense of insecurity among those associated with the transport sector will increase further. Holding the government and relevant law-enforcement agencies responsible for showing apathy, they demanded that immediate action be taken against the armed men involved in the incident, the safe recovery of the abducted drivers be ensured, and effective measures be taken for the protection of passenger coaches on the Quetta-Karachi highway.