Black coats clash with police over land dispute

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of district court lawyers blocked the Johar Road in front of the Margalla Police Station in F-8 Markaz for hours before ransacking the offices of SP City Sajid Kayani and SSP Tahir Alam Khan on Saturday.

The lawyers also manhandled SHO Margalla Hussain Lassi, who sustained minor injuries, when he tried to persuade them to unblock the road, said spokesperson for police Inspector Naeem Iqbal.

Later, they knocked down the door of the SP’s office and beat up his bodyguard, Muhammad Anwar, who had to be hospitalised.

The incident occurred after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) razed a number of lawyers’ chambers, which were allegedly illegally built on CDA land. The operation was carried out late on Friday night in a bid to minimise the lawyers’ anger. A CDA official told The Express Tribune that the operation was scheduled to be carried out in the night because they were expecting a strong reaction from the lawyers.

The next morning, when the lawyers found their offices destroyed, they were infuriated. Subsequently, about 200 enraged lawyers laid a siege to the offices of the SP and SSP.

President of the Islamabad Bar Association Wajid Gilani said: “The land on which the chambers were built was given to us by the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad. We had spent a lot of money to build our chambers. We have lost so many of our valuable items.”

“SP Saddar Capt (retd) Liaquat Ali and the Assistant Commissioner of Industrial area also knew about the land transfer,” Gilani said, adding, “SP Liaquat refused to lodge our complaint. One of his bodyguards also manhadled and struck him with a wireless set. This triggered the clash.”

“I tried to cool down tempers, but it was the SP who forced us to take this extreme step,” he added.

The lawyers only dispersed after intervention by the DC Islamabad assuring them of re-building of their offices.

The police said two of their officials were injured in the clashes and had to be sent to the hospital. “The lawyers deliberately ransacked our office and damaged our furniture and other valuables,” said one police officer.

Station House Officer of the Margalla police station Hussain Lassi said that the police consulted with their legal wing and are planning to file an FIR.

The lawyers’ association also filed two separate petitions against razing of their chambers and beating up of their colleagues by the police.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Amir Ali Ahmad, said the lawyers had been given the entire land.

“After consulting with CDA and other relevant authorities, we had allotted them a piece of land. But they had illegally annexed more land to it. We are looking into the matter,” he said.

CDA’s chairperson Inayat Elahi said traders from a nearby market had complained about the lawyers, adding that some shopkeepers had said that the location of the chambers were creating problems for them.

“They wanted us to take action against the illegal constructions, which we did. But not before we had given them several warnings,” Elahi added.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2010.