Punjab Police stirs hornet’s nest

• Called over TMA’s harassment complaint against lawyers, Daska SHO guns down two lawyer leaders
• Lawyers in Daska, Sambrial, Pasrur besiege, ransack police, local administration offices, vehicles
• Lawyers harass LHC CJ who has directed government to deploy paramilitary troops in Daska
• Punjab CM suspends Daska TMO, calls for incident’s joint investigation by ISI, IB and police

Lawyers in several cities resorted to violence on Monday after Daska City Police Station SHO Inspector Shehzad Warraich gunned down two lawyers, including the Daska Bar Association president, also leaving two others with serious bullet wounds outside the City Police Station on Monday.

Per details, local lawyer Aamir Shehzad Bajwa went to the record room of Daska Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) to get a copy of a Nikkah Nama where the recordkeeper Farooq Ahmed allegedly misbehaved with him.

The lawyer called his colleagues at the TMA office located in front of Daska City Police Station, who thrashed TMA employees and staff, including TMA Daska Employees Association President Khalid Pervaiz, Khurram Shehzad, Shani Mehar, Naeem Khan and Maulvi Muhammad Ishaq.

The police was called by the Daska TMA officials.

The outraged lawyers, led by Daska Bar Association President Rana Khalid Abbas, started abusing and cursing the Daska Police, asking them to “kill them if they had courage to open fire on them”.

Infuriated, the Daska SHO fired shots at the lawyers, giving chest wounds to the bar association president, lawyers Irfan Chohan and Zohaib Sahi, also injuring a passerby Shehbaz Maseeh.

The injured were taken to Daska Civil Hospital where Rana Abbas succumbed to his injuries, followed by Irfan Chohan’s death on the way to Lahore’s Mayo Hospital. Zohaib Sahi and Shehbaz Maseeh were stated to be medically critical at Daska Civil Hospital.

REVENGE SERVED HOT:

After the tragedy, lawyers took to the streets of Daska and besieged the City Police Station and offices of Daska DSP and AC, adjacent to the police station. The lawyers ransacked the offices and thrashed the policemen, pelting them with stones for several hours.

The lawyers also kept the traffic blocked on almost all the inter-city roads in Daska by burning tyres at Fawara Chowk, Kutchery Chowk, Civil Rest House Chowk, Civil Hospital Chowk, besides keeping the main Sialkot-Daska-Gujranwala Road blocked for several hours.

RETALIATION IN TEARS:

Retaliating, the Daska Police fired tear gas at the protesting lawyers from inside the station. It also called large contingents of police from neighbouring police stations.

This situation created panic as several locals in the vicinity, including students of Government Postgraduate College for Women Daska, fell unconscious due to massive teargas shelling. Two local lawyers Sami Ullah Malhi and Rana Asad were injured by teargas shelling.

CALLING IT A DAY:

Amidst the ruckus, TMA Daska officials, beaten up by the lawyers, went away after locking up their offices while all the banks, shops, markets, shopping centres were also closed down.

Local elected representatives, including MNA Sahibzada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah and Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Shehzad Asif reached the spot and expressed solidarity with the violent lawyers, condemning the SHO’s act. They assured that all the responsible police officials would be brought to book.

NOT OVER YET:

Later on, Daska lawyers staged a strong anti-police demonstration by placing the dead bodies of the slain lawyers in the congested Civil Hospital Chowk. They also refused to allow dead bodies’ autopsy.

The lawyers’ community has also announced three-day mourning across Pakistan to mourn the two lawyers’ killings.

Lawyers in Sialkot, Sambrial and Pasrur also came out on the roads to lodge their protest against the killings.

Sialkot lawyers besieged the offices of the Sialkot DPO and DCO while lawyers in Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur staged charged sit-ins besides besieging the offices of the local administration. They also kept the traffic blocked on small and main roads in Sambrial, Pasrur and surrounding areas.

LHC CJ CALLS FOR RANGERS’ DEPLOYMENT:

In lieu of the shaky situation in Daska, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmed directed the government to deploy paramilitary Rangers in the area.

After holding talks with representatives of various bar councils, the chief justice asked the sessions judge to reach the site and contact lawyers’ bodies to settle down the situation.

The chief justice also contacted representatives of bar councils in Daska and Gujranwala, asking them to remain calm. He also gave them assurance that stern action would be taken against those involved in the incident.

Lawyers also besieged the vehicle of chief justice as he left for home, demanding that he take suo motu notice incident of the Daska killings.

GOVT PROMISES JUSTICE:

Reacting to the incident, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif “took very serious notice” of the incident.

Expressing sorrow over the lawyers’ death, the Punjab CM has ordered early arrest of the accused police officials and strict legal action against Daska SHO Inspector Shehzad Warraich. Shahbaz Sharif has also directed the Punjab chief secretary to write a letter to LHC chief justice for judicial enquiry of the Daska incident.

According to a Punjab government spokesman, it has also been decided to constitute a joint investigation team for enquiry into the incident. Representatives of police, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) will be included in the team.

Shahbaz has also ordered suspension of Daska TMO and made the Daska assistant commissioner officer on special duty (OSD). He has also sought a report of the incident from Punjab Police inspector general (IG), directing action against the people involved.

It merits a mention here that the accused Daska City SHO Shehzad Warraich has been previously accused of killing a man and dumping his body in a canal. The police official remained suspended for some time and was later able to get back on the position using his political influence.