KARACHI: Police on Monday fired tear gas, used water cannons, and briefly detained 87 protesters who attempted to march towards the Chief Minister House to demand salary increases, promotions, allowances and provident fund.

The protest and subsequent police action caused severe traffic congestion in Karachi`s South district as roads leading to the Chief Minister House and the Karachi Press Club (KPC) remained closed to vehicular traffic for several hours.

A large number of motorists and commuters suffered for hours due to closure of key roads and the protest.SSP-Traffic Suhai Aziz told Dawn that four main roads Aiwan-i-Saddar Road, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Din Muhammad Wafai Road and Sarwar Shaheed Road -had been closed for traffic by the district police.

She said that the hours between 4pm and 7pm are considered peak time, when vehicles move bumper to bumper on the roads, adding that the closure of the four major roads has had a significant spillover effect which caused severe congestion on adjacent arteries such as I.I. Chundrigar Road, Abdullah Haroon Road, M.T. Khan Road and the Saddar area.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the Sindh Employees` Alliance (SE A) had put forward three major demands: a 70 per cent increasein salariesandpensionsforallSindh government employees from grade 1 to 22; a 50pc Disparity Reduction Allowance (DRA) for employees in the same grades; and the provision of group insurance and a benevolent fund after retirement, in line with the Balochistan government`s model.

The South police head shared that the leaders of the alliance held talks with the police, the Minister for Planning and Energy Nasir Husain Shah, Karachi commissioner and secretary finance at the commissioner`s office.

He said the Sindh government officials contended that because of budgetary constraints, the salary could not be increased upto 70pc. Besides, the DRA of the employees had already been increased in 2022 and other provinces followed Sindh`s practice. Their third demand, related to benevolent funds, was accepted and the government had formed a committee to look into possible investment of such funds and providing its benefits during the life of the employees.

However, the protesting leaders did not accept it and the talks failed, DIG Raza added.

The SEA leaders and employees, including women who had already gathered outside the KPC in the morning to move towards the CM House, the officer said, adding that the roads leading to the CM House were already barricaded by the law enforcers. When the protesters tried to march towards Aiwan-i-Saddar Road, the police used water cannons to disperse them.

Witnesses and the protesting leaders also said the police used tear gas shells as well.

They were dispersed and pushed towards the venue of the protest at the KPC after the police action, the DIG said and added that no one was arrested.

The SEA leaders Ashraf Khaskheli, Zamir Chandio and others told the media outside the KPC that the police subjected the protesters to `torture` near Polo Ground.

Earlier, talking to the media, minister Nasir Shah said the Sindh government would try to address the legitimate demands of the employees, adding that it had been a priority of the PPPled government to provide jobs to the youths.

He said he would present demands of the protesting employees of different departments/institutions before the chief minister.

Mr Shah opined that it was the right of everyone to protest but protests which cause inconveniences to the general public should not happen.

Later in the evening, DIG Raza told Dawn that the police released all 87 protesters after organisers called off their protest in front of the KPC.

The protesting leaders will hold a press conference on Tuesday (today) to announce their future course of action.