LAHORE, July 26: The provincial Bar condemned the killing of three judges on Sialkot jail premises while demanding a full-fledged probe into the incident, and gave a half-day strike call for July 28 in protest.

At a press conference here, Punjab Bar Council vice-chairman Arif Chaudhry accused the establishment of mishandling the crisis, saying that it should have held negotiations with captors to save the lives of hostages. He further alleged that the police had become an unbridled force and did not even listen to court orders.

“This is not the first time that a firing incident has taken place on jail premises, where drug-trafficking, arms supply and jailbreaks are routine occurrences. To the surprise of everyone, no proper inquiry has yet been ordered regarding the Sialkot incident,” he maintained while demanding that an inquiry commission headed by a Lahore High Court judge should be constituted at the earliest.

He further suggested that the proposed inquiry commission should also report on the attitude of police, who always overstepped all rules and regulations.

The PBC member, MNA Raja Shafqat Abbasi, said that the prime minister, the federal interior minister and the provincial chief minister should accept responsibility for the incident and resign from their offices. Other members also supported Mr Abbasi’s stance on the issue, saying that in the wake of government’s failure to provide protection to judges, the common man could not possibly feel secure.

The Lahore High Court Bar Association held the Gujranwala DIG and Sialkot jail authorities responsible for the gory drama. It further alleged that the police officials concerned had made a hasty decision that resulted in the death of three judges at the hands of captors. “The police had tried to cover up its decision of launching the attack that not only killed the captors but also claimed the lives of three judges.”

LHCBA vice-president M.M. Alam Chaudhry and other office-bearers maintained that none of the top government functionaries had visited the scene. The matter had been left at the disposal of police and the jail authorities concerned. This reaction of the government had confirmed apprehension that the government was least bothered about the safety of judiciary.

They demanded of the LHC chief justice to hold an inquiry into the incident and dismiss the Gujranwala DIG and the provincial IG for jails forthwith. They suggested that the CJ should specifically focus on questions as to how did the captors got the arms and why didn’t the jail authorities make foolproof security arrangements before the visit of judges. The Lahore Bar Association demanded that the Sialkot district and sessions judge should be asked to explain as to why did he take 14 judges to the jail.

LBA president Mansoorur Rehman Khan Afridi and other office-bearers said that the judges had been making surprise jail visits, but they paid this particular visit with prior intimation, which was unusual and needed to be probed.

They accused the provincial government of failing to protect lives of citizens and demanded criminal proceedings against the Gujranwala DIG and Sialkot jail superintendent on murder charges. They feared that if no steps were taken to counter such incidents, people would lose confidence in the administration. Both judges and lawyers were feeling insecure due to repeated acts of terrorism on court premises, they added.

“The LBA demands that heirs of each of the deceased should be paid at least Rs2 million in compensation and the security arrangements on jails and court premises beefed up.” The LBA also gave a half-day strike call for Monday.