More than 10,000 oil tankers on Wednesday went on a strike in protest against staff of Mahmood Kot depot of Pakistan State Oil and alleged misbehaviour of district police.
Drivers have parked tankers along the road from Mahmood Kot depot to the Chenab bridge, suspending fuel supply across the country.
Four days back, Mahmood Kot SHO Javed Akhtar had arrested All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association President Yousuf Shahwani and his men and registered a case against them under Anti-Terrorism Act on allegations of receiving extortion from tankers.
After the arrest, MNA Jamshed Ahmad Dasti and his supporters held a protest at the DCO office and later DPO Awais Ahmad released them.
On Wednesday, drivers of oil tankers went on a strike, alleging that PSO staff used to exact Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 per tanker extortion in the name of private contractors.
The drivers warned that if dialogue with the DPO and PSO officials turned out unsuccessful, they would march on Lahore and later Islamabad.
The DPO told the media that he was trying to resolve the issue whereas PSO officials termed the allegations baseless, saying some former officials might have been involved in extortion in the past.
