Sessions court shootout: Four accused granted protective bail

Last Saturday, an under-trial prisoner shot and killed another under-trial prisoner before being killed himself.

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday granted protective bail until July 6 to four men accused of involvement in a shootout at the judicial lockup in the sessions court which left two prisoners dead. Last Saturday, an under-trial prisoner named Azam shot and killed another under-trial prisoner named Shafqat before he was killed himself in a shootout with the police. The police later registered two cases, one against police officials, and one against the four men whose bail plea was heard on Wednesday.The petitioners submitted that they had been at the lockup on the day of the incident to visit some prisoners and they had not been involved in any way. They said that police officials had falsely accused them in order to protect themselves. They said they feared that if they were not granted bail, the police would arrest them despite the lack of evidence linking them to the crime. The bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood granted them bail until Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2012.