KARACHI, April 13 Condemning the killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders, the legal fraternity on Monday demanded an independent probe into the murders and asked the government to expose the killers and bring them to justice.

The lawyers` representatives suspected involvement of intelligence agencies in the killings. They also alleged that the government was working on a foreign agenda.

These observations were made by the lawyers` leaders while addressing a condolence reference at Shuhda-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts on Monday to remember the slain Baloch leaders - Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir and Sher Mohammad Baloch - who were found shot dead in Turbat on the night of April 8.

Karachi Bar Association President Mohammad Ali Abbassi alleged that the personnel of spy agencies had reportedly kidnapped the Baloch leaders from the office of a lawyer, killed them and then thrown their bodies from a helicopter.

He asked the government to devise pro-people policies and not to pursue the foreign agenda, saying that it might put national integrity at stake.

Condemning the killings, the KBA president called upon the government to expose those responsible for the heinous crime and punish them.

Vice-chairman of the Sindh Bar Council Mahmood-ul-Hasan also condemned the killings and alleged that the kidnapping and killing of innocent people in Balochistan and other parts of the country had become a routine feature and such acts were being carried out at the behest of the United States.

He said that although President Asif Ali Zardari had asked for forgiveness from the people of Balochistan for past injustices, the killings of Baloch were still taking place.

KBA general-secretary Naeem Qureshi demanded of the chief justice of Balochistan High Court to order an independent judicial probe into the killings of the three Baloch leaders.

He also asked the federal government to give autonomy to the provinces as envisaged in the Pakistan Resolution.

Other speakers including Mahmood Baloch, Chaudhry Abdul Sattar, Samad Baloch, Hamid Kashmiri and Mushtaq Jahangiri, also condemned the killings and blamed intelligence agencies for their alleged involvement in the killings.

They expressed concern over prevailing unrest in Balochistan in the aftermath of the killings.

Later, the lawyers offered prayers for the slain leaders on Raja Riaz Shaheed Road.

They also chanted anti-government slogans.

Boycott

On a call of Ali Ahmed Kurd, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, the legal fraternity boycotted court proceedings at the city courts and the district courts Malir to protest against the killing of three Baloch leaders.

Due to the lawyers` strike, many undertrial prisoners, who were brought to the city courts, could not be produced before their respective trial courts and were sent back to prison.

The lawyers of the Malir Bar Association also boycotted the court proceedings and took out a rally at the National Highway to lodge their protest against the killings.