Protesters torch D.I. Khan sugar mills

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Protesting against the death of their relatives in a drain of toxic effluent, enraged villagers ransacked a sugar mills and set its building on fire in the Ramak area of Dera Ismail Khan on Saturday. Police arrested seven employees, including the general manager and production manager, of the Chashma Sugar Mills No 2 after registering a case against them in connection with the death on Friday of 10 people in the drain filled with effluent from the mills. Police had initially clai­med that at least 13 people had drowned in the drain. The protesters gathered outside the factory and entered it after smashing its main gate. They ransacked its main building and torched the ethanol plant, GM’s office, zonal office and record office. Police had to resort to baton-charge and firing in the air to disperse the protesters. Four protesters and a police constable were injured. Meanwhile, the 10 victims of the incident were buried in Palwan village on Saturday. Thousands of people attended the funeral prayers. Police said a case had been registered on the complaint of Allah Ditta against the arrested employees of the mills. The complainant told police that his son Bashir Khan and a colleague of his were harvesting wheat when they heard cries of two women who had been stuck in the drain and were calling for help. “Bashir fainted after jumping into the drain to rescue the women. Other people busy in harvesting work also rushed to the drain. They too tried to rescue the women but got stuck in the toxic effluent and lost their lives,” he said. The commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan has constituted a three-member committee to hold an inquiry into the incident and submit a report in 15 days. Several sugar mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are functioning without proper arrangements for treating their effluent. They pollute rivers and lakes by discharging into them the untreated effluent. Complaints to the authorities go unheeded .