Lawyers’ protest: Belligerent SHO to be tried under ATA

Police register case against 41 people including Samundri station house officer for 'terrorising and injuring' lawyers

FAISALABAD: The police on Monday registered a terrorism case against 41 people including the Samundri station house officer for “terrorising and injuring” some lawyers who held a protest demonstration against the Samundari City police at Tehsil Bar Samundri on March 26. The lawyers had accused the police of illegally arresting a district bar member, Advocate Chaudhry Abdul Lateef. Former Samundri Tehsil Bar president Rana Naveed Irshad said the lawyers had been peacefully protesting in front of the Samundri Tehsil Bar and had locked the gates in protest. He said SHO Muhammad Ilyas and 41 others jumped over the walls of Tehsil Kutchery and baton charged the protesters. They fired shots in the air and used tear gas shells. As a result, more than a dozen lawyers were severely injured; several complained of bone fractures and were taken to a hospital for treatment. Samundri City police registered a terrorism case on Irshad’s complaint against the SHO and his accomplices including Shakeel, Waseem, Shehbaz, Tayyab, Shehbaz, Kalim, Nawaz and Imtiaz. Police said they had already registered a case against the SHO under the Police Act but now he would be tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2014.