Bar president, lawyer killed in clash between lawyers and police in Sialkot
SIALKOT: Protests erupted in several cities across Punjab after two lawyers — including Daska Bar Association President Rana Khalid Abbas — were killed and two others wounded on Monday during a clash between protesting lawyers and police in Daska tehsil of Sialkot district in Punjab.
Lawyers in various parts of Multan, Faisalabad and Gujranwala are staging protests against the killing of their colleagues. Several lawyers also resorted to attacks on police personnel and mobile vans, according to TV reports.
Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court took notice of the killings and summoned the heads of various lawyers organisations. The CJ also sought a report from the Daska district and sessions judge as a meeting went under way in this regard.
During the meeting, it was decided that Rangers personnel would be sought to maintain the law and order situation in the violence-hit areas.
Earlier, officials of Daska Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) along with SHO of Daska city police station Shehzad Warraich were conducting an anti-encroachment drive in Sialkot's Daska tehsil when local residents and lawyers staged a protest, seeking more time from authorities.
The SHO opened straight fire to disperse the protesters as a result of which a pedestrian and three lawyers, including the Daska bar president, sustained gunshot wounds.
The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Daska where Rana Khalid Abbas and another lawyer succumbed to their wounds during treatment.
Fear and tension gripped the area after the incident as lawyers and area residents took to the streets protesting against the action. Businesses and markets also closed down after the clash.
SHO Shehzad Warraich was later arrested on the orders of District Police Officer Dr Shahzad Asif Khan.
Abbas, an active leader of the local PTI chapter, was elected president of the Daska Bar Association in January this year.
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed concern over the law and order situation in Daska, saying no one should be allowed to take the law into his own hands and damage public property.
He sought a report into the incident and directed authorities to take immediate measures to pacify sentiments.