A peasant was killed in a stampede in Mirpurkhas, over at subsidized flour sales points in Badin and Shaheed Benazirabad.
The stampede started when several hundred people gathered in Mirpurkhas to buy a 10 kg-flour bag for Rs65. Harsingh alias Gulahi Bheel, 37, father of seven, including six daughters, died in the stampede.
Bheel community members and political party workers protested by taking his body to the Mirpurkhas Press Club. They demanded an FIR against Mirpurkhas’ deputy commissioner for failing to provide flour to flood victims and the needy.
Talking to media persons, they alleged that the Sindh government had failed to provide flour to millions displaced by floods in 23 districts. They termed it unfortunate that people were losing lives in a desperate effort to get flour bags at subsided rates. They claimed that they were forced to purchase flour at Rs 150-170 per kg and rejected the government’s claim of the commodity being available at Rs65.
Similarly, in Tando Bago, district Badin, two women, among several others, were injured after the police baton-charged the crowd gathered to buy flour at subsided rates.
People protested outside the police station. They said police officers beat them while buying flour from a district truck.
Three women were injured in Sakrand, Shaheed Benazirabad, during a stampede while buying subsidized flour. People protested in various districts against the steep rise in flour and other essentials.
