KARACHl: Police fired tear gas at the protesting workers of a newly formed religious group and used water cannon to disperse them from Fawwara Chowk where they had staged an hours-long sit-in on Friday against the alleged detention of their leaders in Lahore, according to officials and witnesses.

The police claimed that they had earlier tried to persuade them to vacate the place promising them that their `concerns` would be conveyed to the Punjab government. But they were `bent upon causing a breakdown of law and order`, said Karachi South SSP Saqib Ismail Memon.

The protesters belonging to the `Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasulallah` [PBUH] wanted to march on Governor House after lodging their protest outside Karachi Press Club and at Fawwara Chowk for several hours, causing immense inconvenience to commuters, officials said. `They violated Section 144 and caused inconvenience to the people besides damaging private vehicles passing through the area,` said SSP Memon.

They compelled the police to take stern action by resorting to water cannon and tear-gas shelling to get the public place vacated, the officer said, adding that the police also picked up 10 protesters.

Karachi chapter chief of the organisation Syed Zaman Ali Jafri and nine other leaders and workers have been arrested, according to party spokesperson Anis Lodhi. He said the activists wanted to convey their concerns to the governor against the detention of their leaders in Lahore.