SWABI: Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf leaders and workers held a protest rally here on Saturday against the alleged drone attack in Mardan, and to push for the release of PTI`s founder Imran Khan from jail.

The protesters belonging to different areas arrived at the Karnal Sher Khan Chowk, blocking various roads, and troubling commuters.

The protesters were led by former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser. They raised slogans against the federal government.

On the occasion, Mr Qaiser claimed that innocent people were killed in the alleged drone strike in Mardan, and sought justice for them. He said the whole nation wanted to know as to who carried out the reported drone attack, and demanded a judicial inquiry of the incident.He said the party`s founder Imran Khan should no longer be kept in jail in cases in which he was never involved.

Other party leaders said Imran Khan should be immediately released because he had been `incarcerated in false cases`.

`The government is afraid of popularity of Imran Khan, said Agibullah Khan, provincial minister for irrigation.

PLOT POSSESSION: Gadoon E conomic Zone (GEZ) is expected to take possession of about 60 abandoned industrial units in Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate (GAIE) as the industrialists have failed to clear their dues during the last several years despite various reminders sent to them, sources told Dawn here on Saturday.

They recalled that after the withdrawal of 100 per cent incentives by the then Nawaz Sharif government in May 1991, entrepreneurs started giving up their business inGAIE, while slowly and gradually shifting their work into more attractive industrial zones in the country.

The sources said neither the award of 100 per cent incentives package nor its withdrawal was the best policy.

When the incentives were awarded the industrialists of Karachi and Punjab ran a campaign against it, and after it was withdrawn the entrepreneurs started saying adieu to GAIE, added the sources.

`Gadoon Estate has a location disadvantage, and industrialists preferred to invest in more affordable zones,` the sources said.

When contacted, members of Gadoon Industrial Association, told Dawn that majority of industrialists at GAIE belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and only a handful of those from other provinces left when the incentives` package was withdrawn, allegedly with an intention to defame the estate.