Quetta, Jan 29 : Traders held a shutter-down strike in Gwadar, Panjgur and Turbat areas of Pakistan's Balochistan to hold protest against worsening law and order in the region and kidnapping incidents. An alliance of major political parties and all the segments of society, including businesses, were part of the protest, local media reported on Thursday.

Financial institutions and large and small commercial centres remained shut on Wednesday to support a businessman from Turbat. An unidentified armed men had kidnapped Shah Nawaz Gul Rind in December, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported. The family of the kidnapped businessman said kidnappers had demanded Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 600 million in return for Rind's release.

As the business tycoon remained missing, the All Parties Alliance urged for a shutter-down strike in three districts of Makran - Gwadar, Panjgur and Turbat. The alliance and the residents requested the government and law enforcement agencies to take immediate measures to ensure release of Shah Nawaz Gul Rindâ??s and arrest those involved in the kidnapping.

The All Parties Alliance includes The National Party, the Balochistan National Party (BNP), the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and BNP (Awami) and other political parties. The leaders of the alliance stated their protest would continue until the recovery of the abducted businessman and others.

On January 18, hundreds of people, political workers and traders held a major protest rally in Panjgur town of Balochistan against increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom of traders and common citizens and deteriorating law and order situation in the area.

The protest was held on the call given by All Parties Citizen Action Committee of Makran (APCAM) against the kidnapping of area's prominent figure Gul Jan Rind and many other people in the Panjgur district, Dawn reported. Hundreds of protesters gathered at Panjgur's Main Bismillah Chowk and marched on roads carrying placards and banners which mentioned their demands and anti-government slogans.

APCACM Chairman, Nawab Shambay Zai, BNP leader Mir Nazir Ahmed Baloch, National Party acting president Mujeeb Rehman, JUI Panjgur leader Hafiz Muhammad Azam Baloch, Haq Do Tehreek Panjgur leader Mullah Farhad, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Maulvi Noor, PML-N leader Ashraf Sagat and PPP Panjgur leader Javed Baloch led the rally.

The leaders of the protesters urged government and law enforcement agencies to take immediate measures for the safe recovery of Shah Nawaz Gul and other people who have been kidnapped. They raised question on why the law enforcement agencies, despite the presence of modern technology, could not trace the mobile number of the victim. They called for immediate arrest of those responsible for the kidnapping.

/IANS