Daily Times

A court in Karachi on Saturday granted bail to the traders, arrested over flouting coronavirus lockdown decision of the provincial administration. A court of the judicial magistrate approved bail petition of arrested traders. The court ordered arrested traders to deposit surety amount of Rs 150,000 each. A court had earlier sent President All City Tajir Ittehad Hammad Poonawala and other traders to jail on a 14-day judicial remand turning down bail petitions moved by their lawyers. The Napier police had taken the traders into custody on a charge of breaching lockdown regulations. On April 22, the traders had forcibly opened shops at the city’s Iron Market, disregarding the government orders. The police arrested violating traders and enforced complete shutdown in the area. Karachi traders summoned an emergency meeting earlier in the day after their deadline to the Sindh government to resume businesses in the metropolis was expired. All City Tajir Ittehad members had claimed that the police roughed them up and forced them to shut down shops. The Sindh government had earlier asked the traders to wait till Tuesday before they finalise the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) needed to resume businesses in the province.